Friday Free Read: Hungry

She was hungry.

No surprise. She’d huddled in the old church, in the dark, for days. All the time swimming in and out of a hot fever, dazed from fear. Listening with confusion for the sounds of them, the sounds of the dead shuffling and shambling and groaning outside. Not so long ago Cleo could have strolled across the street for a bag of chips and a soda from the deli, no problem. Tonight, the simple distance—maybe fifty yards at most—might as well stretch half the planet. The flesh-eaters hunted out there. Two weeks ago, they’d taken the one last living person Cleo knew.

Art by PatrickFinch

In the Headlines: Why do we Love Zombies?

Zombies are in the news again this week, with the recent news of the new AMC spin-off, Fear the Walking Dead. I have to say I'm surprised as heck that the series is generating this much excitement. Having been a zombie movie aficionado for almost 20 years, I've honestly never seen what makes The Walking Dead special; this new series looks like the same series to me, simply set in a new place with new characters. As far as I can tell, the story will be the same: the dead are rising, the survivors are fighting horrible and heart-wrenching situations which probably includes shooting their own friends and loved ones, and the characters we come to know and love will start dying with depressing regularity.

So why do audiences demand more and more of these shambling corpses?

I've seen most big-name zombie films from the George A. Romero series to the modern takes like 28 Days Later to the parodies like Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland. I've seen many, many of the B- and even Z- films like Abraham Lincoln, Zombie Hunter. But it takes an awful lot for a zombie film, TV show, or book to get my attention anymore. So many of them follow such an incredibly predictable formula.

Lately, though, a few more interesting spins are coming about. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is slated for theatrical release very soon. Just a few years ago we had a marketable zombie romance as well: Warm Bodies. 

What is the appeal of zombies? How is it possible they continue to appeal to us in the same formulaic stories, and manage to surprise us in some of the most unexpected ways?

Share your thoughts about zombies and their place in fiction, especially as it pertains to romance. Do you like them? Hate them? Have any really good zombie film or book recommendations? Do you think they're getting old, or does it look like we'll be dealing with them for a long, long time to come?

Kelly Ryan's "Savation" -- Nothing Brings People Together like Zombies.

Zombies, zombies everywhere and not a bite to eat.

 

Hello again, my lovelies!  Time for another look at the blending of romance and the walking dead.  Kelly Ryan's Salvation, released by Breathless Press, has scrambled its way through the quarantine zones and onto my blog for review.

For Your Pleasure: Leona Bushman

Today on Foreplay and Fangs, we're pleased to remind all you lovelies that Leona Bushman's hot new novella, Slow Burn, is Now available at Breathless Press.  To celebrate Release Day, I'm happy to welcome Leona to the blog for an interview on the book.  

F&F:  Welcome to Foreplay and Fangs, Leona! Are you excited for the release of Slow Burn? 

Leona Bushman: Yes :). This and another zombie story, Mayhem in Mexico: Zombie Infestation, an urban thriller, comes out on Halloween. I'm beyond excited!! Two Zombie book releases in less than a week! LOL But Slow Burn has a special place in my heart because of the reactions of my editors :).

F&F:  Nice!  So my first question is, what inspired you to blend an erotic love story with zombies? 

LB:  LOL simple, really. Breathless Press put out a call and I had an idea... :D Okay, it's never that simple. I have a gazillion ideas. This one came with inspiration. This is going to sound mean, but I wanted to make my editor cry and/or gag and scream. I believe I've accomplished all three :D And, in turn, the line editor which was an added and unexpec
ted bonus.

F&F:  Are you a fan of the zombie genre yourself?  What are some of your favorite zombie films or books? 

LB:  LOL yeah. Before Borders went out of business, I bought the first Walking Dead comic. I even managed to keep it out of my family's mitts for nearly a year so it stayed purty lol. I watch The Walking Dead, of course LOL also, Zombieland :) As can be seen by the meme here.

F&F: As I mention in my review, your zombies aren't the traditional walking corpses of Night of The Living Dead fame.  What made you decide to depict them the way you do? 

LB:  Just, what else would be scarier than a zombie than a faster, smarter zombie? But really, it seems to me, that if it's an actual virus, we would retain something of our former selves, at least for a while. I've set up two different worlds with different kinds of smart zombies (Slow Burn and Mayhem in Mexico:Zombie Infestation. The only thing they have in common is they're not shamblers). I don't know if I could write a slow shamble and make it scary to me. And if I'm not scared, I'm not convinced the reader is. If you can't engage yourself in the story, why would you think the reader would be? That's my writer motto.

F&F: Was there any sort of extra research you had to do for Slow Burn? 

LB:  Oh lordy, was there. First, I had to look up how to (redacted) and the proper weapon generally used by (redacted) and was completely surprised. When I told my husband he was like now way. How can you (redacted redacted) with that? I had to show him. Not that there was no disagreement, but in the places that mattered, they pretty much agreed. That was the biggest one. It took the longest time and was the most disturbing. I shudder even now.  And, erm, sorry about the redacted, but I can't give out the spoilers... lol.  I also had to look up general first aid. I used to be an EMT, so my base knowledge is too much compared to what Joe Schmoe of the street would know. I mean, this single father who sells insurance and securities isn't going to know how to fix (redacted) without help from somewhere. So I had to do research to see what knowledge my character couldn't have, if you know what I mean.

F&F:  I've kicked around the idea of writing zombie story erotica myself but always wondered how to find opportunities for romance when the undead are threatening to eat my characters' heads.  Was it hard for Karla and Sebastian to get in the mood for sex scenes when you had so much horror breaking loose around them? (I will say it didn't seem like it!) 

LB:  I have to admit, that was the thing that nearly tripped me up. I mean, you're in the middle of this survival time and you're taking time out to get it on with someone. But then I realized that it's during emergencies that basic instincts take over. Things are taken down to their bare minimum. So as long as there isn't a zombie on their tails, when the mood strikes... The real trick became how to get some without the teenagers catching them. LOL.

F&F: These two are clearly a hot item! Any plans for future stories with them in the leads? 

LB:  When I started writing it, no. But as I got to the end...a second story came to mind and I knew that I couldn't leave it like that. The possibilities that this world created are bigger than I had even imagined as I started the story.

F&F: Yes!  That is awesome news, i hope I get to read that one, too.  That... May or may not have been a completely self-serving question there... Anyway, How about other works? Anything special coming up next?

LB:  My next release is Halloween, as stated above. I'm also putting the moves on in the Steampunk short I'm working on, Finish up Book three in the War of the Weres series, The Panther's Hunter, and a couple/few shorties, I think, just for fun LOL I know I'm forgetting some...oh yes, one secret project.

F&F: Secret project?  Aww, but I wanna know noooooooow.....you smut authors are such teases.  

***

You can find more information on Leona and her works at her author website,  www.leonajbushman.com. Check out her blog at www.lbushman.blogspot.com, and visit her on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorLeonaBushman.  Her twitter is @L_Bushman.

Thank you again to Leona for joining us, and congratulations to her on her new and upcoming releases!  Remember to check out Slow Burn from Breathless Press, and if you like it, lovelies, give Leona a little love by leaving a review and telling your friends.  

Dire Straits and Delicious Sex: a Review of Slow Burn, by Leona Bushman

I'm a bit of an "accidental" zombie fan.  Since we were freshmen in high school, my now-husband has pretty much devoured any and every zombie movie, TV show, book or comic book he could get his hands on, and that means I got to sup on them as well.  I know the classics from George A. Romero to the comedic satires like Sean of the Dead.  I've gotten the play-by-plays of The Walking Dead -- not the show, the comics -- and heck, I've even perused his copy of the zombie X-Men.  We have action figures from zombie movies, we play video games like Zombie Bowling (yes, this is a thing, and it's glorious), and I even bought a zombie embroidery kit for him for Christmas.  You get the idea.

When I was offered the chance to preview Slow Burn, I must admit I wasn't sure what to expect.  I read the description on the pre-order page and was caught instantly by the setting: a pair of office co-workers looking forward to a relaxing (and lusty!) week together in the Cascades.  I could see the classic setup for your small handful of "survivors": Sebastian (the handsome hero), Karla (his lovely heroine), his teenage son Jack and Jack's sweet girlfriend, Rachael.  All the bones of a zombie survival horror story were there.  And how, pray tell, would the sexy side play out?  And would this tale of lovers vs. the undead measure up to the many, many zombie stories across so many mediums I had already encountered?