Decadent Thursday - The Zombie Vote

The Zombie Vote by Rusty Fischer
Series: Reanimated Readz – Book Four
Genre: YA
Publisher: Bono Books
Pages: 21
Buy: Bono Bookstore
Losing an election is bad enough. But losing it to a zombie?

Tanner B. Simpson is running for junior class president. Her only opposition? Calvin Hobbs, her former boyfriend and the first zombie student ever to run for class president.
During a live debate in front of the student body, Tanner reveals her inner prejudice for “the zombie party” while Calvin reveals his inner humanity.
Was Tanner wrong about Calvin? And could he ever take her back?

~Excerpt~

I frown and turn back to the audience.

By the time I do, I see a string of zombies, maybe a dozen, maybe two, lined up at their microphone at the bottom of the bleachers. Mrs. Halston stands primly from her seat at the foot of the stage and pivots primly to face them.

She takes the mic from its holder and points it in the face of the first zombie, a junior by the name of Carl Gaff. He used to play for the soccer team before Congress vetoed the Living Dead in Sports Act earlier this year.

He is short and slight and swimming in his green jacket, which only seems to come in one size: XXL. He looks at me calmly and says, slowly, deeply, but quite seriously, “What qualifications do you have that Calvin doesn’t?”

Before I can hear Brody’s voice screaming in my head, I snap out the first thing that comes to mind. “I can read, for one.”

There is dead silence in the auditorium as Carl Gaff looks at me. I cringe, expecting the place to boo, to erupt, to storm the stage and tear me limb from limb. What I get is even worse.

“That’s it?” he asks.

I don’t think he really meant it as a joke but the audience laughs, and laughs and laughs and laughs.

All except for the zombies, but that’s only because they’re still busy lining up to ask questions. One by one, they get in line, until the steps leading down from their section are full, and then they line up, side by side, very orderly like, two by two, side by side, a sea of green jackets and yellow teeth patiently waiting their turns.

I look at them. Green jackets, yellow stripes down each sleeve, dark hair, dark eyes, gray skin, patient, slow, and eager for a chance at the microphone.

I don’t give it to them. I don’t care if it costs me the election, I don’t care if I look like a clown. I don’t care about anything anymore than getting off that stage.

Immediately.


Review-
The Zombie Vote is the fourth book in Rusty Fischer's Reanimated Reads Series. Now you don't have to read them in order, each in the series stand alone. The series has a great premise... what would happen to our world if zombies were created equal to us (humans) mortals?

The Zombie Vote is thrilling, another aspect of the series coming to light. Zombie's are back in school and they have full voting privileges! It's unique, go pick up The Zombie Vote today!

Author Bio:

A former public school teacher, Rusty Fischer has written for such educational magazines as Learning, The Mailbox and Teaching K-8. Now a full-time freelance writer, Rusty is the author of several YA supernatural novels for Decadent Publishing, including Ushers, Inc. and Panty Raid at Zombie High, as well as the Reanimated Readz series of 99-cent zombie short stories. You can read more about his current and upcoming projects, and download FREE zombie stories, at: www.zombiesdontblog.blogspot.com

Decadent Thursday - Slack Tide by Vanessa Barger

Welcome to Decadent Thursdays!

Happy Thursday! It's Tamaria and I have a treat for you today!

I'm reviewing a book from Decadents YA line today, Bono Books. 

Lately I've been reading books about selkies. Those who don't know what a selkie is, they are seal shifters. They shed their pelts (seal skin) when they come on land. They can live on land and in the sea.

This book was recommended to me in the Decadent Publishing Facebook Group. 

Title: Slack Tide
Author: Vanessa Barger
Pages: 172
Genre: Paranormal romance, fantasy, YA 

Source: Purchased

Price: $4.99

Blurb:

At a time when most girls are worried about prom dresses, Lorelei Stamper is worried about losing her skin—literally. Receiving a sealskin from her Aunt, her world is changed. Not only is she a selkie, but she holds the key to breaking a curse affecting all selkie.
Now, monsters are stalking her, forcing her to decide if she will end the curse before she even really understands what’s happening. When Declan, one of two bodyguards sent to protect her, wakes her sleeping heart, she must try to balance love, surviving her senior year, and deciding whether she wants to be human or not. No matter what she chooses, the fact remains that breaking the curse demands blood. Hers.

Dear Lorelei,

This is a family heirloom. It’s sealskin from your great-great grandmother. Whatever you do, don’t lose it. Always keep it hidden, and above all else, never put it on.

Someday I’ll tell you the story behind it. Until then, keep it safe.

Love,
Aunt Celeste



I snorted and put the note aside. Sealskin? Why on earth would anyone wear it anyway? Wasn’t that illegal?

I peeled away the paper, revealing a soft, mottled brown pelt. As I brushed the short hair, a tingle moved up my hands, flowed over my body, as if I’d walked through a field of static electricity. The scent of the sea intensified, and I had the uncanny urge to pick up the skin and rub my face on it. It was like being handed a piece of a dream I couldn’t quite remember. But I knew I liked it.

“What did Celeste send this time? Something—” my mother, Miranda Stamper, stood, mouth hanging open, unable to finish her sentence. She stared at the skin like it was a snake, poised to strike.

“It’s sealskin. I don’t get it. Her gifts are usually weird, but this really tops all.” The nonchalance in my voice sounded strained, even to me. I offered the article to my mother, though I didn’t want to. My arms shook with the effort of ignoring the urge to cradle it to my chest.

“Put that back in the box, Lorelei. Never take it out again.”

My mother trembled, her eyes never leaving the fur in my arms. She looked fearful and backed up a step, brushing a hand over her eyes. Her voice shook. “I said, put it away.”

Shoving it back into the box, I couldn’t resist dragging my fingers over the skin one last time as I closed the flaps. As soon as it was out of sight, the compulsion to touch it lessened, but didn’t leave. I could still feel it, thudding like a strong bass beat in my chest.

~My Review~

I haven't read a YA story in a long time. Slack Tide drew in instantly and Miss Barger took me on journey that was both magical, heartbreaking, and heartfelt. One minute I was laughing and the next sobbing.

You can't help but feel everything that Lorelei is feeling. Her family life was very difficult. She never felt her mothers love. She 's just finding herself and everything she knew about herself changes when she find out that she is apart of a legend.

 Decaln I fell in love with immediately. He's your typical teenage boy (well sort of). He's very into Lorelei and she's drawn to him, but fights it with everything she has in her. Declan at times isn't completely honest with her and her reaction to what she finds out sets off a chain events.  

Will the legends come true and her blood be spilled, or fate will step in a change everything?

I would love to see another book on selkies from this author. I give Slack Tide 5 Stars!

I am a Young Adult author who teaches high schoolers all about technology education (and yearbook!) in rural Virginia along the Chesapeake Bay. I am the owner slave to one cat, Molly, who looks a little like a cow when she gets a haircut, and write in myfree time. I am actively involved in the YA Fiction Fanatics critique group, which is dedicated to helping its members produce the best MG and YA novels they can write. This past summer I finally bit the bullet and also joined the SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators).

I’ve currently finished four manuscripts, and I’m working on several more. I love writing, and my goal is to be able to do this full time someday – or at least as a published author enjoy it as a second job. I also love long walks on the beach discussing Shakespeare while sipping large fruity drinks with little umbrellas.

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YA Short Review: Private EyeZ

Title: Private EyeZ
Series: Reanimated Readz

Author: Rusty Fischer

Pages: 22

Genre: YA

Price: $ .99

Blurb:When Randall Jenkins is kicked out of high school for being a zombie, he needs a way to make a living. Enter Private EyeZ: The Zombie Detective Agency. As one of his first cases, Randall is surprised when his old pal and teammate Brock Thornton shows up, offering him three crisp hundred dollar bills to follow Brock’s girlfriend, Brandy Hutchins.

So why does Randall feel like *he’s* the one being followed?

Review: Randall has been a Zombie for a little bit now, kicked out of school and most places that humans dwell, friends no longer friends but hostiles, with a single law to protect them.


This is a different take on what could happen after the Zombie Apocalypse, it is creatively brilliant short read, that will have you wanting for from Rusty Fischer and his Reanimated Readz Series.


Private EyeZ contains a little bit of everything, a little bit of mystery, horror, a bit of romance, bit of dystopian. 

Buy on Amazon, or from Publisher.