Earlier this week I talked a bit about Erzabet Bishop's LIPSTICK, and how much I enjoyed her take on the zombie tropes. The lovely Erzabet agreed to answer a few questions for me on the topic, so here we go!

1. I think fans of The Walking Dead or the classing George R Romero zombie will be surprised to meet Claire Presswood, heroine of Lipstick! What was your inspiration for your fresh take on the zombie trope?

I love zombie fiction but I don’t think they always have to conform with the rotting, parts falling off classic zombie trope. I wrote this story a couple years ago and recently had the opportunity to watch iZombie. Now there’s a girl who I can support! And she likes hot sauce! I wanted a girl who didn’t have to be crippled by what happened to her but could use her trials as a step up and let me tell you, Max is just that. And he’s a hottie to boot!

If you think about it, zombies aren’t too different from vampires. They just eat um…solid food instead of liquids. And they have to have good skin care or bad things happen.

2. I loved the obvious friendship between Claire, Carmen, and Rachel. It was warm and funny, and felt very relatable (despite them being a zombie, a vampire, and a cat-shifter!). Do you think it’s important to show these strong bonds between women in fiction? And is there any chance of stories for the other girls?!

Yes and yes. These girls are snarky and to me how friendships are supposed to be. They love each other warts and all. Relationships between women as friends are very important. Friends keep us sane and help tether us to reality. Especially if they happen to be a vampire and a cat shifter. (lol)

I am planning the second and third books in this series even as we speak. Carmen and Rachel want their time in the spotlight. They are quite persistent about it, in fact. Stay tuned for their stories in 2016.

3. There’s a good blend of genres in Lipstick – it’s got paranormal elements, some BDSM, a touch of rom-com…Do you have a favourite genre to write in, or do you like to mix it up? Who are some of your influences?

Here’s me. * Here’s a genre box. @ Never the two shall meet. I love mixing it up and making people guess. I’ve read one too many straight out BDSM book where I just want to yawn when they break out the paddles. I’m like-really? Where’s the surprise? The same with some PNR. You have to have something in there to distinguish your story from the rest. I love humor. Awkward situations. And yes…some kink. It’s all fun and fantasy and I want to make people smile.

I love Christopher Moore. That man can write a funny book. Also Kim Harrison, Laurel K. Hamilton, Michael Logan, Jonathan Maberry, Scott Kenemore. Oh man…I work in a bookstore. I fall in love with a book practically every day. My walls are stacked with piles of books that will one day crush me in my sleep. (Just ask my husband. If I even think about bringing another one home he growls.)

4. And finally, Claire’s entire adventure is triggered by the right shade of lipstick. Personally I never leave the house without perfume. What’s your must-have make-up accessory?

You guessed it. Lipstick. I’m that girl haunting the Mac counter every time they get a new collection. I surf Pinterest all the time for images of new shades.

https://www.pinterest.com/erzabetbishop/lipstick/

Makeup is fun. I don’t use a lot of color but the lips have to be glammed up and gorgeous. I am lucky that mine are nicely shaped. But-it’s the color that can really play with you. I’ve got brown hair with some streaking and blue eyes. A very fair complexion, so when we see Claire trying to find something that makes her look lively-that is so me. Too red and you have bozo the clown. Too purple and you have a vampire in drag. The scary kind. It’s a balance. But man, does it make my heart happy.

https://www.pinterest.com/erzabetbishop/lipstick-fetish/

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http://erzabetwrites.wix.com/erzabetbishop

XOXO

Erzabet Bishop

I've been on a short story kick lately. Lots of stories from Evernight's Romance on the Go line, a ton of Robert W Chambers and Ambrose Bierce, and an anthology of stories inspired by Chambers' KIng in Yellow mythos. I did my degree in Creative Writing, and spent three years writing almost nothing but short stories, and I absolutely love the skill and art that goes into making a really good one. One of my favourites from the bunch I've read lately is Lipstick, by Erzabet Bishop.

I'll just admit it, the cover hooked me. It's so elegant and lovely! Lipstick is a quick, light-hearted paranormal romp with a touch of BDSM. Living-challenged (read: zombie) erotica writer Claire is dolled up and dragged out by her well-meaning friends (a vampire and a cat-shifter, so you know) to an upscale art exhibit. Claire's meeting with the artist, Maxwell, leads to a charged sexual encounter and a funny bit of revenge on a critic who can't keep his mouth shut. When I say this is a cute story, I don't mean to underplay the erotic elements, but it really is cute. Claire has a chatty, inviting voice that makes you feel like you're hanging out with a friend, and I liked the solid friendship between the three women. The humourous elements balance nicely with flashes of a darker world beneath the lipstick and little black dresses. I'm hoping we might get stories about Claire's friends, Carmen and Rachel, as they're both great, intriguing characters. And, really, I'd be happy to hear more about Claire and Maxwell, and life as a zombie!

Lipstick, despite the occasional bit of cannibalism, came as a light relief after reading Strange Trouble, book three in Laken Cane's relentless Rune Alexander series. I love these books, but they're so draining! The pace is non-stop, the violence is insane, the angst is off the charts, and the twists and turns are endless. Honestly, not for the weak of heart. This volume sees Rune tackle zombies, witches, mad vampires, her own inner darkness, and affairs of the heart, and it's crazy. I have book four, Obsidian Wings, all loaded up on my Kindle already, but I feel like I need to decompress before I go back to Rune's world.

Oh, and just a shout-out for some future reading! LM Pruitt is releasing her eight-book Winged series as a boxset at a ridiculously low price! So if you like angels, demons, feisty heroines and wars in Heaven, I definitely recommend snapping up this bargain.

Meanwhile, I'm going back to The Court of the Yellow King...

Yes, it's been quiet round here. Almost...too quiet? Let's change that a bit!

The reason I've been quiet is because, after the release of BAD ALPHA, I suddenly realised that the end of the year was fast approaching and my to-do list was not getting any shorter. My current writing load looks like this:

One Naomi Clark project - an urban fantasy novella that is fast threatening to become a novel.

Wolf's Hunt (Wild Blood MC 2). I'm making good progress on this, but it's a bit darker and more complicated than TANNER'S WAR, so is also threatening to end up much longer than I anticipated.

Blood of Angels - a paranormal romance short that I probably could wrap up quickly, but it's low priority compared to Wolf's Hunt.

And now, thanks to a burst of inspiration a couple of weeks back, another paranormal romance short called Last Hope, Alaska, which has a polar bear shifter as the hero (hence the lovely picture above!), and that I'm pretty into right now.

That's four projects and one writer (even if I have two writing identities). Up until August, I was splitting my time fairly evenly between the Naomi Clark project and Wolf's Hunt, and making slow but steady progress on both. Now it's September, and I've realised that if I want to get any projects finished and submitted before the end of the year, I need to focus on one at a time. I decided to go with the Naomi Clark project because...well, that was the story I was working on when I had my realisation.

My dream is to have that finished by the end of September. A more realistic goal is to have it done by the end of October. Then I'll spend the rest of the year finishing Wolf's Hunt. I have to tell you, I am in love with my hero and heroine, Wolf and Clea, and I am badly missing working on their story right now. But I have to be realistic with myself, and I know I will work better and produce a better quality story if I stop splitting my already-limited free time.

So that's why I've been quiet. But I discovered this morning that, quiet or not, I need to keep checking in on Twitter and my emails, since I'd forgotten the passwords to both! So I'm going to attempt to be a bit more active round here even when I'm not working on Amber Morgan stories. Stay tuned for rambling pointless blogs from me, and fun guest blogs from other authors! Happy Monday!