The Mint Chicks - I Don't Want To Grow Old

Well after not blogging for about a century I'm doing a cheat and posting a song. Oh, but what a song. It's by Kiwi band The Mint Chicks and it's actually on a bread commercial over here, and it's completely awesome. It's sort of got a Cheap Trick feel to it, don't you think?

Anyway, I've just finished plotting out a new book and I really, really, really hope I get the chance to write it because I think I'm in love with the hero. HInt, hint, he's a geek! What's everyone else been up to?

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Zombie Queen of Newbury High book trailer

Woot! I'm so happy to let you all see the book trailer for Zombie Queen of Newbury High!!!!

Obviously, no expense was spared in the making of this trailer and though my children weren't exactly paid for their time, I did let them keep the plasticine afterwards, which I think was very kind of me!

Anyway, in order to celebrate my new, fancy book trailer, I'm running a competition. To enter all people have to do is either post a copy of the trailer on their blog, link to it or even post a tweet. Then, once they've done that they just need to send me an email to:

amanda at amandaashby dot com (no spaces)

to let me know what they've done and I'll put them in the draw to win my Very Last Zombie Survival Kit.

Yup, that's right. This is the last one I have and since we all know that it's only a matter of time before zombies take over the world, I think we can all agree that having a zombie survival kit will be pretty darn useful!!!!

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Another interview

I'm talking zombies and halloween over at Moonlight, Lace and Mayhem. You can check it out here! Retweet this button on every post blogger

Back to the eighties

Yes, bear with me folks because I'm having a little flashback to the eighties and what better way to flashback than with Blancmange's Living on the Ceiling?

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A fly-by

Just a quickie because my mother is here and we're about to head out the door but I was excited to see that examiner.com did a list of ya zombie books for people to chew over (sorry, but really, this is me we're talking about, bad zombie puns come with the territory.). Anyway, don't forget to check it out here!

I've also been having loads of fun trying to make a book trailer for Zombie. It's been an...er...interesting process. Anyway, as soon as I manage to get it done, I'll post it for you guys to check out!!!!! Retweet this button on every post blogger

Halloween giveaway

I'm hanging out with the lovely Jeri Ready-Smith today and I'm talking about my five favorite zombie movies (actually I should be talking about Halloween or Prom but my knowledge on those things was zip so I'm ad libbing it!!!!!!!!).

I did no writing at all yesterday and I kind of liked it! Instead I did some housework and gardening and it felt oddly satisfying to be able to see what I've achieved for the day - where as even when I hit my word count for the day, I never feel satisfied because I'm always thinking ahead trying to figure out what to do next (and let's just say that I never think ahead and look for anything else to do when it comes to housework!!!!!). But today I will be back at the drawing board working hard on a new proposal before I start book two. Fun!

Btw, if anyone else is using the new blogger templates, do you know where the spell check has disappeared to? I really hate change sometimes... Retweet this button on every post blogger

Captive of Sin

Check out the gorgeous new book trailer that the awesome Vanessa Barneveld made for Anna Campbell's latest books. Two of my favorite people working together - I love it!!!

In other news I just finished reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie. This is such a powerful, special book and I honestly can't think of anyone who shouldn't be reading it. It's fabulous!

Not much else from me. My mother arrives on Wednesday night so I suppose I should really try and get rid of all the 'I don't have time to do that right now, because I'm writing a book' mess that has accumulated over the last few weeks. What's everyone else been up to???

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Mia is now on Twitter

Yup, I've decided to give Mia Everett - the heroine from Zombie Queen of Newbury High, her own twitter account so she can talk zombies. Not that she really wants to talk zombies, since she would rather talk Buffy - but tough luck on her, because zombies it is - mwhahaha!!!!! So please make sure friend her so that you can stay up to date on all things living dead! Retweet this button on every post blogger

Win stuff

So the downunder girls have been more than a little busy lately and there are all sorts of goodies up for grabs. Head over to Literary Escapism and go in with a chance of winning Erica Hayes' debut book, Shadowfae (which looks awesome and I cannot wait to get my steamy little mitts on).

And also, the lovely Eleni has a copy of Anna Campbell's new book up for grabs. If you haven't read any of Anna's books then you must, you really must because the are amazing!!!!

And finally, because it is really all about me, to belatedly celebrate the release of Zombie Queen in Australia (and allegedly NZ though I haven't heard too many sightings of it over here) I've got a contest going over at weloveya - go on, you know you want to. Retweet this button on every post blogger

Le book is le finished!

Bet you didn't know I could speak French, did you? Anyway, that aside, book 1 in my Djinn series is officially finished. Well, for now. I just need to give a quick edit, send it to my cps and then onto my agent. Hooray. I'm very happy to have it done, let me tell you!!!!!

I've just seen a cool review for Zombie over at Monster Librarian, where it also includes reviews for loads of other great ya zombie books so make sure you go and check it out!!!!

Also, a big thanks to everyone who weighed in on book review sites. Apparently I was always signed in for Goodreads and didn't even realize it. Anyway, I'm going to give it a go. I want to keep the books separate that I read each year so right now I've only got my 2009 reads up, but if I figure out how to put things into different sections, I'll go and list more books soon. Anyway, if you're on there and want to friend me, then go and visit me here!

And finally, a big congratulations to one of my writing buddies who has just signed with an amazing agent!!!!!!! She hasn't announced it on her blog yet so I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say it here or not, but I'm thrilled for her. I've read her manuscript and it's completely compelling, so hopefully we'll be able to celebrate her sale real soon!!!!!! Retweet this button on every post blogger

Some Halloween fun

So normally when you think Halloween, you think ghosts and ghouls and more candy than you can cram in your mouth (or is that just me?). However, this year, Halloween seems to be all about guest blogs and competitions! Yup, there are loads of great (and completely spooky) Halloween blogs going on and I'm doing quite a few of them!!!

First up is over at The Book Obsession where not I only do I talk about the scariest book I've ever read (no, of course I'm not going to tell you over here - you need to go over there to find out what it is) but I've also got a book up for grabs as well. So go here for the comp and here for the scary book post!

I'm also over at Insert Book Title Here talking about zombies and halloween and I have a few more posts scheduled for during the month, so I'll let you know when they're up.

As for me, the book that will not end has, well, almost ended. Yup, I'm up to the final chapter, which is very exciting. Once it's finished I'm going to take a break to write a proposal for my agent and hang out with my mum who is over next week for a visit and then I'm going to dive straight into book two. And then in November it's Nano and even though I never seem to finish any Nano books in a month, I do normally end up writing them. Djinn was what I did last year and my next Puffin ya release, Fairy Bad Day is what I started two years ago, so there is a method to my madness (or not).

And now I must go and make chocolate chip pancakes for my two lazy children who refuse to learn how to fend for themselves. Lucky they look cute in the morning or else I would be dumping in extra baking soda in (and other useful tips from my Bad Mother Handbook may be acquired at my twitter account where I also teach my children to fake burp and cheat at Monopoly!!!!) Retweet this button on every post blogger

updated my website and a question.

Obviously, now that my kids are on holiday and I'm even more pressed for writing time (on the book that will not end) it makes complete sense for me to update my website. Okay, not really, but I did it anyway. I've added some fun zombie stuff and spruced the place up a bit. Okay, I turned it red, but since red is the color of my beloved Liverpool Football Club, I figured that it's a good thing. Anyway, don't forget to head over and check it out here.

I seem to have been doing a lot of guest blog posts for Halloween and have a few giveaways coming up as well, so I will make sure I give everyone a heads up for when they are up. I might even let the zombies come out and play over here and see if we can rustle up a few ghoulastic prizes. Because let's face it, nothing says Halloween like free creepy prizes!!!!!!

Not much else to report, though it makes me happy to keep hearing that people have spotted Zombie out and about in Australia. Mwhahaha and next the world!!!!

And now I know I've asked this once before but I'm going to do something about it this time. Promise, promise, promise. I want to use one of the book sites like goodreads to list all the books I read each year - I hate not reading a book a week and I find that if I list them down the side of this blog, it keeps me a bit more focused. But of course what I'd really like is pretty pictures with the book covers etc, so what sites does everyone else use and prefer? Retweet this button on every post blogger