Questions for quIRK blog hop winner!

In order to build some excitement for my debut novel, Sanity Vacuum, my partner in crime Courtney Worth Young and I threw a blog hop. Now, I’m about to announce the long-awaited, celebrated winner of the grand prize.

First, let’s roll that cover again.

Beautiful.

And, the winning question belongs to James Wymore! What did he ask?

Well, James just happened upon the entire theme of the second novel with no foreknowledge whatsoever. So, he wins extra-big there.

The question: What is the role of freedom in obtaining happiness?

It’s deep. It’s pertinent to daily life. I love it.

Congratulations, James!

Cover Reveal: Sanity Vacuum, my debut novel!

I’m very excited to finally be able to reveal my amazing, beautiful cover to the world! It’s been as though I’ve been hiding a cosmic secret for the past month. Now that I have a release date, I’m going to reveal its beauty to the world.

Release Date: December 6, 2012

Sanity Vacuum Synopsis:

Vivian Skye just finished university, and qualified for her first-choice internship. Not many would consider the distant and isolated Extra-Galactic Observatory cushy, but it’s a dream come true for Vivian. Hailing from the low-tech planet of Aurora, she studied hard for this opportunity—and to leave her old life, and planet behind.

Her assignment is simple: perform a routine upgrade for the station’s supercomputer, quIRK. Her reception isn’t a friendly one, and eccentric quIRK becomes her only friend. However, the station’s administrator, Bryce Zimmer is obsessed with quIRK—he suspects that the station’s computer may have achieved sentience, something explicitly prohibited by the ABACUS Protocol. Compounding their issues, Bryce’s traumatic and privileged past makes him distrust Vivian from the beginning. Desperate to keep control, he sabotages quIRK in order to eliminate Vivian. But, his plan threatens to consume the entire station and send them into the unknown void of intergalactic space.

Vivian must struggle to survive not only Bryce’s megalomania, but also the emerging artificial super intelligence that is quIRK. Can Vivian and quIRK learn to trust each other and work together, before it’s too late?

Sanity Vacuum is book one of The ABACUS Protocol.

 

Author Bio:

Thea Gregory is a farm girl from English Western Quebec, a total nerd, and she loves science fiction, zombies and physics. Between marathon cooking sessions, her clerktastic day job, and part-time studies, she manages to find time to write. Author of the Zombie Bedtime Stories, her debut sci-fi novel, Sanity Vacuum releases December 6.

Deadlocked Cover Art!

At long last, Deadlocked has a cover prototype.

Deadlocked cover

 

My cover artist and I would love to hear your thoughts!  Recently, he put a portfolio online, and if you’re in the market for a reasonably priced cover artist, give him a shout.

Stay tuned for Monday, when the Coffin Hop begins. I’ll be posting a contest.

The Zombie’s Bride – Now on Smashwords!

I got around to cleaning up The Zombie’s Bride, and uploaded it to Smashwords. I’m very fortunate to have a creative and dedicated cover artist. Like my covers? He’s willing to take on work.

Let’s have a look at the picture, both because I really like it, and I want a picture in here.

The Zombie's Bride cover

Isn’t it great?

So, I know you want to read it, you know you want to read it. So read it. It’s free!

I have a few more of these cooking, all featuring protagonists who deserve a zombie apocalypse on their doorstep.

Locked Out (Zombie Bedtime Stories #2) Cover Art sneak peak!

It’s been a busy weekend. I caught some kind of weird flu, but feel mostly better now. Still no appetite, but I could do with some cutbacks in the indulgences. But, in addition to the tentative signs that my muse is returning (I managed 100 words of Deadlocked last night), my boyfriend and cover artist has not been lacking in inspiration. I really lucked out with a guy who used to design video games for a living and had to do his own textures and art.

 

Zombie Bedtime Stories: Locked Out

 

The original concept was supposed to be a brain with a keyhole on it, but it didn’t fit the story as it evolved. However, fire, zombies and mystery liquid always apply.

As always, we would love to hear your feedback!

A new review!

So after another unproductive week, I have a new review, and a new reason to refocus my efforts on Deadlocked.

Much thanks to Dianna for her awesome review of Locked In. It’s straight and to the point, which I enjoy and appreciate. And don’t worry, you’ll hopefully be seeing much more from me very soon!

This weekend I have mercifully few tasks, so I want to get caught up on my writing. That’s what really matters.Hoping to have some cover art to show, too, if all goes well.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

Weekend news: I got interviewed, Zombie Walk Video and more!

So it’s been a dismal week productivity wise. That happens, I’m told. I’ll just redouble my efforts next week. It’s a pain editing halfhearted crap into good material, so it’s probably for the better. I’m getting good feedback on Locked Out, which is very encouraging to make me sit down and crank out Deadlocked. I want to have it out before NaNoWriMo.

I promised you a video. Here is the footage Kyle  took. He got some great shots of the zombies swarming a Justin Bieber display.

Montreal Zombie Walk 2011 video – skip to 1:16 if you only care about seeing Bieber get eaten (there are two waves, second is at 1:50ish)

Goals for this week: Deadlocked to 5000 words. If I get Locked Out back from editor (hi mom) then new draft. I’m hoping to have some nice cover art to show off at some point in the nearish future, but that might not be this week.

Finally, I have an interview about Locked In posted. This is happy news. Thanks to 1st Author Interviews, you guys rock.

 

 

Zombie Bedtime Stories #2 Draft Done

That felt so good to say. I’ve been working on it for over a month. It’s novella length, and it will probably get longer as it progresses through edits. There are plenty of “Easter Eggs” for those who read Locked In, but it’s not required reading to enjoy Locked Out. I want the series to be order-androgynous, so that you can come in at any point, in any order and enjoy the universe.

I’m working on publicizing Locked In, so I’m sending it to reviewers, places that announce ebooks and places that post interviews. It can’t hurt. I’m tabulating everything I send out in a spreadsheet, so I can track how fast sites are.

I have a month to get the cover art together, and to generate some kind of buzz. I might even bump up my release date, depending on how well edits go.

One last note. I wrote 2070 words today. An all-time personal best! If I can make that sustainable, then NaNoWriMo won’t know what hit it.

It’s here! Zombie Bedtime Stories: Locked In now available

After more edits than I care to admit, writing and re-writing, critiques and more formatting than a human should be able to tolerate, Zombie Bedtime Stories: Locked In is now available on Amazon and Smashwords.

Here are the links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0059AJIWM/ref=cm_sw_r_fa_dp_wYfeob0S7NX0R

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/70698

Here’s the cover art. I can’t get enough of showing this off:

Book Cover

And the sample:

       Haley threw up her arms as he made a lunge for her face. His unimaginable strength pitched them both to the ground. The blow winded her. Her eyes widened in alarm as she squirmed under his wizened form to keep his decaying teeth away from her flesh. His fetid breath was tinged with the scent of blood, the overwhelming stench burning into her lungs. Haley thought she was going to vomit. The three officers and Frank shouted as they struggled to gain control of the crazed man. Deafened by Buddy’s shrieks, the terror of the cacophony threatened to paralyze her. A Taser was drawn, but its discharge barely seemed to jolt Buddy, prompting a renewed flurry of attacks. Haley felt a discernible electric tingle pass through her own body, so she knew the device had worked, but on the wrong person. With this realization her thoughts became frantic and incoherent. As she felt her arms weaken from the exertion, she couldn’t help wondering if Buddy was drugged.

Many thanks go to my friends and family and my Tweeps and readers here for their encouragement and support. You guys rock. Especially my cover artist and cheerleader (and photographer, and soundman, and video editor, he really does so much!)

What about part two? I’m glad I proactively asked that question for you. The rough draft is about half done. It’s a longer story than Locked In was, and I’m convinced that it will be just as enjoyable to write, edit and re-read.

Finally, if you’re interested in reviewing this on your blog/site, let me know and send me a link.

Help, I’m trapped in Amazon Direct Publishing Purgatory!

A little under 24 hours ago, I began the process of publishing Locked In on Amazon. From the looks of things, it’s either imminent, or will take a while.

Who knows?

Having it processing lifts a huge weight from my shoulders, though. It’s the knowing that it’s done, it’s good, and I finished it.

For next week, I’m going to focus my energy on finishing Locked Out. I’ve figured out a shocking conclusion for it. Though, one could think that most authors think their conclusion is shocking.

Yesterday was spent with the Smashwords Style Guide, purging all forms of bad style from my work. I’d prefer to think it was perfect to begin with, but I really wanted that epub to be valid.

Watch carefully, Locked In is coming soon!

On other news, yesterday while out on a walk, I conceived the idea for part 7 of Zombie Bedtime Stories. I shouldn’t get too far ahead of myself, because Zombie Bedtime Stories 2: Locked Out is still being written.

Hopefully, my beloved cover artist will beat me to the punch with another awesome cover. Then I really will have to finish it, and fast!