It's the End of the World! Post Apocalypse Recommendations by author Jessica E. Subject

 

Lately, I have been reading books and watching shows and movies that are set in a post-apocalypse world. I have enjoyed these stories for a long time, and have always been thankful that I do not currently live in a world like these, as I don't think I would survive. I would be the character who dies early on from helping another person or animal to survive. That's just who I am. 

I also recognize that many people have lived, or are currently living in apocalyptic situations we only read about or watch in fiction. Their worlds have been changed forever due to colonization, racism, war, famine, industrial pollution, climate change, homophobia, transphobia, along with many other factors.

In the book I recently finished and loved, the apocalypse is caused by a virus, set loose by a cult to bring about the end of the world, that turns people into unspeakable monsters. HELL FOLLOWED WITH US by Andrew Joseph White is told from the points of view of a teenage trans boy and a young autistic man. It was a fabulous read, and I highly recommend it!

The book I'm currently reading, AT THE END OF EVERYTHING by Marieke Nijkamp, a respiratory virus is spreading throughout several US states, and in its wake, authorities abandon a group of teens at a juvenile treatment center. The story is told from the points of view of several of the teens throughout their realization that they were abandoned, and their struggle to survive. I'm really enjoying this one as well! And I love the diversity of the points of view!

When it comes to movies and television, the series that I recently streamed and HIGHLY RECOMMEND is BLACK KNIGHT. As soon as I saw the preview for this, I knew I had to watch it. A comet has hit the Earth, and killed many people. On the Korean peninsula, only 1% of the population has survived, but air pollution is still a huge problem. The series focuses on 5-8, part of an elite delivery service that battles rough terrain and pirates while delivering food, oxygen, and other supplies to the districts of container houses.I really, really loved this six-episode show!!

I've also recently watched RESIDENT EVIL, the 8-episode series based on the video game about a zombie virus. It goes back and forth in time between Jade and Billie first arriving in New Raccoon City, to several years in the future. This was a great series, and while I'm not good at playing video games, it did prompt me to watch the movies.

And I just finished streaming both seasons of BLACK SUMMER earlier this week. It's another zombie apocalypse show, and goes back and forth between characters, some of which make it to the end of the episode, and others who don't. I'm not sure what I thought of this show, but I couldn't stop watching it. LOL

I have a zombie apocalypse romance story, and a dystopian romance series of my own. In all of them, the characters are struggling to survive and to love who they want.

IT TOOK A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE

Home for the summer, RJ heads to the annual fun fair to see if his hot neighbor has also returned from university. When he spots her at the kissing booth, he can’t believe his luck. But even though she never spewed racial slurs at him like the rest of the community, will she grant him a kiss?

Missy is tired of the blatant prejudice she’s seen all her life. If not for her brother’s plea for help, she never would have returned to the small town of West Vitula. When the guy she’s had a crush on since grade school asks for a kiss, she knows it will piss off her parents and leave the entire town talking.

After one kiss, RJ wants another, but a sudden zombie outbreak puts him and Missy on the run. To stay alive, they must learn who they can trust. And even if they can trust each other.

UNIVERSAL BUY LINK

THE COMPLETE UNDERGROUND SERIES

In the future…

The corporation Planet Core holds all of the power. They place restrictions on the lives of those living within their boundaries, including who they can love. And there is no escape.

Deception runs deep…

The rebel group, calling themselves The Underground, is disputing the corporation’s leadership. With the desire for freedom, they will fight.

And betrayal can come from anyone…

Will the rebels defeat Planet Core, or end up fighting for their lives?

Includes: Never Gonna Let You Go, Never Gonna Desert You, and Never Gonna Say Goodbye

UNIVERSAL BUY LINK

Do you have any post-apocalypse book, movie, or television show recommendations for me?

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life... with @MeganSlayer #mmromance #vampires #zombies

I like to try to look at the bright side of things. I prefer to be a positive person in general. Trust me, I'm not perfect. I'm a worrier. Did I lock the house, shut the garage door, remember the detergent when I went to the store...that kind of thing.
Fifteen minutes into a six hour drive, I'm panicking trying to remember if I did whatever it was I could swear I forgot to do. Yep, that's me. I'm human.

But there's something about looking at the bright side. In some situations, there aren't many bright sides. I get it and it sucks. But I'm trying to be positive. We're here to talk about books and fun. We're talking about ideas and originality.

Sometimes when I'm writing, an idea that's so far out there comes to me and I wonder if the idea is worth chasing. That happened with my newest MM book, Never Give You Up. I already had a world where vampires, shifters and every other supernatural creature is being hunted. The forces who don't understand them want them gone. If you've read the other Battle Scarred books, then you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, then what are you waiting for? *g*

In Never Give You Up, the supernatural creatures are turning on each other. Some have united, but there are a few who are out for blood, so to speak. What's a vampire or any other supernatural creature to do?

Never give up.

Okay, that sounds a tad simplistic, but it's true. They can't give up. If they do, then they're dead...like fully, really dead. Anders can't give up on Galen, despite Galen taking a risky move. How these two vampires deal with the ramifications of Galen's choices will shape their friendship and could destroy it.

So the bright side...like mentioned? The bright side here is to cling to your friends and the people you know you can count on. They might be the only ones you've got. Never give up and keep fighting. The more you fight and stick up for yourself, the more you find out what you're made of. Never surrender.

Want to know more about Never Give You Up or the other Battle Scarred books? Here you go!

Never Give You Up by Megan Slayer  Battle Scarred, Book 5
Loose Id
Contemporary, Paranormal
Novella
M/M, Anal Sex, Masturbation
Cover art by Mina Carter
 Through time, distance and confusion, we will always find each other.

Galen Collins knows who he loves, but the vampire of his dreams, Anders Von, isn’t interested. What’s a vampire to do when he’s been rejected? Go to the clubs for sex. He’ll get Anders out of his mind one way or another. But there’s something wicked on the horizon in the form of a virus meant to wipe out supernatural beings. Forces who hardly know Galen are out to keep him and Anders apart. Will he allow the demons to win, or will he chase Anders to the ends of the earth?

Anders has always had a crush on Galen, but things never worked out right time-wise. Galen is the one vampire to make his emotional heart race. He wants to strip Galen to his core and explore every inch of him. Will Anders take the chance to be with Galen and discover how well they fit together or will the virus take Galen before Anders makes his move?

Available from Loose Id: http://www.loose-id.com/battle-scarred-5-never-give-you-up.html

http://wendizwaduk.com/indexMegan.htm

Megan Slayer - It's Always Fun to Squirm

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Using Horror to Inspire Setting

Surprisingly, or not, my writing is greatly influenced by horror writers, from Ray Bradbury and H.P. Lovecraft to Dean Koontz, Stephen King, and Clive Barker. I study them to write tense, scary scenes because my book involves zombies and demons from another dimension, and while I try to incorporate humor, zombies are scary!

In my Necromancer Books, necromancers played a large part in how demons initially made contact with humans, which led to disastrous consequences and which is part of what Ruby, my necromancer heroine, is dealing with in the books. Ruby travels to the demon realm quite a bit throughout the series. Those scenes were fun to write, but also challenging in how to make that world unique and interesting without copying every other fantasy realm already imagined. I drew upon ancient cultures like the Sumerians to imagine my architecture (in the mythology, the demons actually influenced Sumerian architecture) and added some descriptions influenced by both H.P. Lovecraft and Clive Barker.

Below is an excerpt from The Necromancer's Betrayal, a scene in the demon realm, illustrating how the above-mentioned horror writers and a particular experience I had when I lived in Brazil, inspired my demon realm. The description of the bottles containing various creepy crawlies is actually true and based on a bar my Brazilian friend and I visited. The bar was tiny and served shots of cachaca from bottles containing the very same creepy crawlies described in my demon realm! (I apologize for the fluctuating fonts and sizes. This is blogger being difficult.)

Tivor turned down a less crowded, narrower passage, and if I’d hadn’t known better, I’d have said we’d entered a red light district of sorts, with demons stumbling about as if drunk. I raised an eyebrow at Ewan, and he just smiled and waved me onward. Tivor ducked into an opening in the rock. Damon had to bend almost ninety degrees to clear the entrance to what could only be a bar packed into a small cave, as dark and musty as an aged British pub. Stone benches lined the walls circling a stone pillar in the center out of which an enormous, multi-eyed, octopus-like creature served up drinks with his tentacles. I clasped Ewan’s arm. “Why is Cthulhu the bartender?”

He laughed. “Ah, Cthulhu, as you call him, won’t hurt you,” he reassured me, but I wasn’t—reassured. “I guess he does look pretty Lovecraft-inspired, but don’t tell him that. I think he much prefers Poe. Damn good bartender though.”

I stuck close to Ewan as we squeezed our way past the patrons to one of the benches. Rock shelves rimmed the stone pillar, displaying a collection of bottles in various sizes and shapes, all filled with a clear liquid. But it was the items contained in the bottles and jars that caught my attention—things that resembled crabs, snakes, spiders, herbs, snails and anything else that crawled, wiggled, bit, or scraped. There were no large mixed drinks poked with an umbrella and sipped over nachos or onion rings here.

Ewan pointed at the bottles. “Locals swear the ingredients carry medicinal properties. This stuff will cure you of shaky bones, swollen joints, heartache, even financial woes.”

“Until you wake up the next morning with a pounding headache,” Damon said with a wry grin.

Ewan ordered something in demon, and we sat across from Damon and Tivor on benches jammed into a corner of the cave. Cthulhu unwound his tentacles, gripping shot cups carved from garnet-colored crystals. I plucked mine from the outstretched appendage, and it curled back to its owner. Ewan and Damon raised the cups, dipped a finger in the alcohol, and rubbed it on their foreheads before knocking back the drink.

“What’s with the forehead thing?” I asked, still holding my drink in front of me, not quite sure I’d survive the demon concoction.

“It’s our toast. May the drink lighten our hearts and balance our minds.”

I snorted. “I’d say.” I eyed the cup. Well, I was part demon.

“Here goes nothing.” I raised my shot and hesitated when I caught the devious glint in Damon’s eye. That didn’t bode well. I took a small sip and immediately sputtered the alcohol out in a spray. I coughed while the demons laughed. I swore I heard a weird gurgle coming from Cthulhu. “What is this, lighter fluid?” Just the tiny drops that soaked my tongue had sent my head spinning.

I met Ewan’s smile and had to smile myself, enjoying seeing his face lit by amusement instead of tension and anger. “You know, you once told me that human alcohol didn’t make demons drunk, but what about this?” I asked.

He laughed and cocked an eyebrow. “Would you like to find out?” He stood and shouted for more drinks in a display of inebriated braggadocio. Tivor frowned in obvious disapproval while Damon slapped a hand on the Chronicler’s knee. “Tivor, my friend, you remain much too cloistered. How long has it been since you bedded a female?”

I widened my eyes, but Tivor appeared unperturbed. He carefully lifted Damon’s large hand and responded in the demon tongue without blinking. Whatever he said made Damon frown and sent Ewan into a fit of unadulterated laughter. I smiled at his carefree display. Tentacles delivered another round, and Ewan and Damon tossed it down while I respectfully declined, causing said appendages to quiver in disapproval.

Ewan’s eyes flashed, and a wicked, unapologetic grin curled his lip. Already, I sensed an air of mischief about him I’d never experienced before. I’d have loved to discover what a drunken Ewan dared. As if reading my mind, he moved closer, trapping me between his heat and the cold stone wall. He leaned over, and I smelled his breath, hot and spiced from the alcohol. He growled. “I sense his touch on you.”

I closed my eyes, my entire body coiled, ready to spring. My breath escaped in shallow gasps. Ewan continued to surprise me with the many facets to his personality, but I’d never seen this insouciance. The alcohol and seedy location had stripped away the barriers holding him back. He ignored Tivor and Damon, too involved in nipping my neck, as if trying to bite away Ly’s touch, holding the skin in his teeth for a brief devastating moment before letting go.

New Release The Necromancer's Betrayal

Bad boys reign…at least this month on our blog and in my necromancer books. Book two, The Necromancer’s Betrayal, was released last week and contains two of my favorite bad boys that vie for Ruby, my necromancer’s, attention. They don’t play nice, but demons and vampires aren’t exactly boy scouts. Ewan March, the demon warrior, and Lysander, the powerful vampire, struggle against impossible external circumstances, their own frayed friendship, and their conflicted emotions over Ruby. They recognize their behavior borders on obnoxious Alpha (which Ruby calls them on), recognize they were once friends, but neither can seem to control the powerful emotions surging through them. Their conflicts in Necromancer’s Betrayal were fun to write, as are all powerfully emotional scenes, but ultimately it’s their dedication to their supernatural races and deep feelings for Ruby that keep them in check…sort of J

Back cover copy for Necromancer's Betrayal:

Her powers have been hobbled. Her enemies are growing stronger. Old loves challenge her. And her worst betrayer may be herself.

Necromancer Ruby Montagne is battling for her life in the realm of demons. Unfairly branded for the death of a fellow necromancer, she’s got to prove her innocence without the full use of her magic. And the real culprit is still on the loose.

While someone is stalking her friends among the witches, Ruby searches for answers inside the dark intrigues of both the demon and necromancer worlds. Ruby must confront this new, sinister threat while reconciling her feelings for her former lover, a demon warrior. Only it’s difficult . . . because a sexy vampire is making it clear that he’d like to be a lot more than just friends.

The competition for Ruby’s trust heats up as the enemy pushes her toward a dark side that could threaten the entire realm. Yet what can Ruby do when she’s not even sure what she is? With the fabric separating the realms at stake, she must decide whom to trust. But will the ultimate betrayal be her own?

Please check out the Goodreads link below to enter a giveaway for The Necromancer's Betrayal!

Mimi Sebastian

Amazon

Goodreads

Zombie Fun with Zombies, Run!

We’re both big fans of the zombie craze that’s been sweeping genre fiction. There’s so much that can be done with the idea, from traditional re-animated dead to more science-future twists like diseases that take self-control from living people and force them to crave human flesh.

When the productivity/fitness game Zombies, Run! first came out, Dianne was immediately on board. She was in the midst of a running kick and it seemed like the perfect motivational tool. Several years later, she’s still using it. And now that it’s available for Android, Anah has picked up a copy too.

Zombies, Run! is a story game. As you run – or walk, or bike – you unlock pieces of the story. You meet new characters and, as Runner Five, you also find out more about your own character’s history. For two professional storytellers like ourselves, this is perfect.

It’s currently Dianne’s favorite take on the zombie subgenre, simply because being chased by zombies is the best way she’s found to keep herself running.

Do you have any zombie favorites?

New Contributor Onboard

You may have caught previous posts by other new contributors introducing themselves, so I thought I’d take their leads and do the same. I’m excited about participating with such a diverse and interesting group of writers on Paranormal Romantics.

I write as Mimi Sebastian, but my real name is Noemi Ghirghi. Mimi is actually my childhood nickname, and Sebastian came from a place we used to fish when I was a kid growing up in Florida called Sebastian Inlet on the Atlantic Coast. I spent some great times with family fishing and camping on the coast and definitely miss the ocean. I spent entire days with my brother floating on a raft out past the breaking waves, and now I live in the desert. Not sure how that happened, but here I am in Phoenix, Arizona with my family, working my day job in addition to juggling this writing gig.

Before coming to Phoenix, I lived and worked in Brazil, and before that, I served in the Peace Corps in West Africa. I love immersing myself in other cultures. It’s an amazing world with amazing people. I often include little tidbits from my travels in my stories. A short story that I’m going to release this month, based off my Necromancer Series, is set in Brazil where I worked. The story, titled The Werewolf’s Devotion, focuses on one of the minor characters, a werewolf named Brandon.

I’m pretty much a geek, and aside from coffee, have a serious addiction to movies, fantasy, sci fi, comics, and the paranormal. I have always loved a good atmospheric horror story or movie. Before cable tv, I used to watch these crazy horror movies on Saturday mornings after the cartoons on the local non-network channels. I’d close myself off in our guest room and watch them while gnawing on my fingernails.

I’m drawn to the paranormal because we know very little about our world, and maybe I watched too much Scooby Doo and read too much Nancy Drew, yet we’ve only scratched the surface of understanding about this planet and the greater universe. Animals have senses that we don’t have and can see the world differently. (I have this fantastic Amazon parrot and she has this sixth sense about things.) Mysteries about our planet are fascinating. (Remember In Search Of??? Leonard Nimoy!!) What are UFOs? What are ghosts? What do these mysteries tell us about our world? These questions inform much of my writing.

Since I can remember, as a kid, I always wrote in journals, wrote short stories, and always had movies playing out in my head. I guess it was inevitable that I’d eventually write out one of those stories and that it would involve the paranormal. I didn’t think I’d write about a necromancer, but as Ruby, the necromancer, spoke to me, I found her and her power intriguing. Her power almost has a mind of its own and influences her in negative ways. And there are definitely limits set, lines that a necromancer should never cross, because it warps them, so it’s fun to explore what happens to her when she crosses those lines. In my mythology, without giving too much away, necromancers were born from the interference of the demons in the human realm and have the ability to reanimate the dead, create zombies and revenants.

In addition to demons, witches, and zombies, the series also involves vampires. I wanted to include them because they form part of that greater mystery, that creepiness, but also represent dangerous passion. Look at how Bram Stoker wrote Dracula, Bela Lugosi’s portrayal, and Anne Rice’s Lestat. (I also love the original Fright Night movie!! Chris Sarandon is awesome as the vampire Jerry Dandrige.) They were dangerously attractive to both their male and female victims. I don’t like how some modern interpretations have stripped them of this primal passion, which stems a lot from the blood drinking, stealing that vital life force. When you take away the blood drinking, you take away part of what makes a vampire dangerous and primal.

However, I don’t write only paranormal. In between the necromancer books, I’m trying to fit in a pirate historical, titled Devil’s Island. I can’t wait to get it out because it was such fun to write. In addition to watching scary movies, I also loved the Errol Flynn and Tyrone Powers pirate movies, which spurred my imagination for romantic adventure. The more I read about pirates, the more intriguing they become. They were the rebels of their age, and I tried to bring that out in Devil’s Island.

So that’s me in a nutshell, I guess :). Oh, I’m also a Romance Writers of America member, belong to the local Desert Rose chapter, and the Fantasy, Futuristic, and Paranormal chapter. Thanks for spending these few moments with me and I look forward to engaging with this great group of writers and with readers who stop by!