My Writing Process Blog Tour

Many thanks to Mel Comley for inviting me to join this tour. She's an amazing (and bestselling) writer of a fantastic thriller series (The Justice Series). I know because I've read them! Mel is a British author who now lives in France, where she spends her time, other than writing, renovating her house and taking care of her dogs. Visit her on Facebook at:  Mel Comley and Friends. If you're on twitter drop her a line.  Stop by her blog.  Or visit her website.

MY WRITING PROCESS BLOG TOUR

1.) What am I working on?

I'm currently working on the third book of my Spirit Shifters series, Autumn Rising. I'm hoping to  have the first draft finished in the next few weeks, and the book should be out by the end of July. Here's the cover which  I absolutely love, I hope you do too!

2.) How does my work differ from others in its genre?

This is a really difficult question! I would say it's my combination of romance and horror. My novels are quite graphic, and dark, and intense, but they always have a strong romance theme running through them as well. Sometimes, this makes it difficult for me to categorise my work - is it paranormal romance, or urban fantasy, or dark fantasy, or horror? Sometimes a single book will span all of those categories!

3.) Why do I write what I do?

I've always loved the paranormal, ever since I was a young girl. I grew up as a teenager obsessed with vampires, and so it was only natural that I would write about them one day. I also started my love of reading on a diet of Stephen King, James Herbert, and Dean Koontz, so again, writing paranormal was always going to be in my future.

4.) How does my writing process work?

I'm very much what is known as a 'pantser'. I tend to have a vague idea of a story in my head, and ask myself a few 'what if' questions. I will write character profiles down in my trusty notebook to help build upon them and make them feel more three dimensional to me, but for the most part, as soon as I start writing, they pop up pretty clear in my head. With my series books, I might have a vague idea of how I want a book to finish up, but more often than not, that changes by the end. If I try to plot or plan too far ahead, I find myself getting stuck or overwhelmed. The story will feel too big for me, and I'll start to worry I'm going to be able to pull it off. If I just start writing, and not think too much more than a couple of chapters ahead, then the words tend to flow. If I get stuck, I'll simply jump a chapter or two, and write whichever scene in currently speaking to me the loudest at that time. Of course, this does mean that my first drafts are extremely messy, and I have to spend a lot of time going back and reworking things!

WHO IS NEXT?

The next person on the tour is the fabulous Belinda Frisch. Belinda is the author of a number of novels, including the gruesome 'Cure' zombie series! But she has recently been branching out into the world of romantic suspense with her novel Fatal Reaction.

After fifteen years of working in healthcare, Belinda Frisch's stories can't help being medicine influenced. A writer of dark tales in the horror, mystery, and thriller genres, she is a storyteller at heart, and has been writing since her teens. Her fiction has appeared in Shroud Magazine, Dabblestone Horror, and Tales of Zombie War. She is an honorable mention winner in the Writer's Digest 76th Annual Writing Competition. Her novel, Cure, is the runner-up in the General Fiction category of the 2012 Halloween Book Festival and was optioned for film. She is the author of Better Left Buried, Fatal Reaction, Cure, and Afterbirth, in addition to a number of short stories. She resides in upstate New York with her husband, son, and a small menagerie of beloved animals.

She'll be posting her writing process this time next week, on May 5th, over on her blog! You can also find her on her facebook page and twitter!

Cure (A Strandville Zombie Novel) by Belinda Frisch - Review

Like many people with a kindle (I suspect), I download a lot of free books. I hate to say it,  but many of them just don't do it for me. For reasons such as downloading something that isn't really the genre I read, to just plain bad books, a lot of what I read I end up discarded after a few chapters. With the invention of e-readers, the term 'disposable fiction' has never been more apt.

However, occasionally something catches me by surprise. After dragging myself through the book of a fairly well-known author, I picked up Cure. Several hours later I was halfway through and had to force myself to put down my kindle in order to get some sleep!

"Cure" tells the story of a crazy doctor who has discovered a zombie virus and decided that in order to heal all sort of diseases, such as cancer, he is going to create a zombie-human half breed by kidnapping and impregnating them with zombie genes.

This is a multi-character filled cast, from the people working in the hospital, to the poor women who have been kidnapped, to the family of those women. At times it was hard to keep track of who was who, but that was also because the book was so fast moving. It was pretty horrific in places, so this isn't for the faint of heart, but it certainly kept me turning the pages to find out what was going to happen next!

I give Cure four out of five stars. The only reason it didn't get five were perhaps a couple too many points of view to keep track of, and a little too much gore (I did have to hold down my dinner on a number of occasions, though this is only testimony to Belinda's vivid power of description). Overall this is a must read for all zombie fans, with a new fresh setting and idea in what is an over saturated zombie market.

Here is the blurb and a bit about the author. You can buy "Cure" from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

"Cure" is book #1 in the Strandville Zombie Series. Stay tuned for "Afterbirth", "Cure's" sequel. March 2013, the experiment continues...

A thriller hailed as "original" among zombie fiction readers and enjoyed by those who aren't such fans of the genre.  Includes "Payback", a BONUS Strandville Zombie Series Short.

When those closest to you break your trust, the only option is payback.

Six months before an outbreak of viral plague turned the residents of Strandville into a mob of flesh-hungry undead, Max Reid was a new father struggling to overcome a gambling addiction for the sake of his family.
Desperate to keep his secret, out of work, and on the losing end of a debt large enough to get him killed, Max turned to Mitch, a Nixon Center guard and the closest thing he had to a friend, to make the money he needed to break-even. What he didn't know was why Mitch was so eager to help him or how far he'd have to go for the cash.
Max Reid is about to find out a terrible secret that will change his life and push him to destroy others'.

About the Author

Belinda Frisch's fiction has appeared in Shroud Magazine, Dabblestone Horror, and Tales of Zombie War. She is an honorable mention winner in the Writer's Digest 76th Annual Writing Competition and her novel, CURE, is the runner-up in the General Fiction category of the 2012 Halloween Book Festival. She is the author of DEAD SPELL, PAYBACK, and CURE, the first in the Strandville Zombie Series which has recently been optioned for film.