Liza interviews Nora Fleischer's character Jack the zombie

Today, I’m going to interview Jack the Zombie. You may already know him. Depends upon where you go for pizza. 

I wish I had insisted on the pizza place, but nooo. I let Jack decide the location for the interview.

So I’m at the run-down offices of the Boston Zombie Support Group, in a well-worn office building.  Next door, there's a kettlebell group in session, and it sounds like a dropped bell could go right through the floor.

Jack Kershaw, part-time media relations guy for the BZSG, and full-time zombie, sets a cup of coffee in front of me.  I don't touch it.  Zombies like coffee so strong it's almost crunchy.

Jack: Great to see you again, Liza.  You said you had something to show me?

Liza: I do! I wanted you to see the new cover for your book.

Zombies in Love.

By

Nora Fleischer

Jack: That's a great picture of my girlfriend.

Lisa.  I think it works.

Jack: You know, a lot of women can’t look that natural holding a shotgun.  [He smiles, reminiscing.]  She shot me with it once.

Liza: What?  Why?

Jack:  Just a small misunderstanding.  These things happen.  [He squints, confused.]  Why does it say Zombies in Love on it?  Lisa's not a zombie.  And who's Nora Fleischer?  Is she the artist?

Liza: What are you? Brain dead?  Oh wait, that might be considered an insensitive question with a Zombie. Let me rephrase my question.

Have you forgotten Nora was with me the last time I interviewed you? She’s your author. The one who gave you life…well sort of.

Jack: Oh, you mean my biographer!  She's not the cover artist, is she?

Liza:  No. That's Philippe McNally.

Jack: He’s very talented.

Liza: Tweet him at @PhilippeMcNally, tell him how talented he is! I’m sure he’d love to hear from you.

Jack:  Well, please tell Nora I want a copy for Lisa's birthday. 

Liza:  What do you think of the picture of you?

Jack:  Am I really that pasty?

Liza:  Yes. 

He grins.

Jack: Still, pretty good for a dead guy. Don’t you think?

Liza: I don’t really know. To be honest. You are the only zombie I’ve ever interviewed, and I’ve done so twice. Probably because you are very much the gentleman and have refrained from eating my brains, or gnawing on my leg.

Jack: Glad you appreciate that like humans, zombies aren’t all the same either.

Liza: Well, I try to be sensitive to all creatures, living and dead.

Zombies in Love: available at http://www.amazon.com/Zombies-Love-Nora-Fleischer-ebook/dp/B00NUA5CJQ

Jack Kershaw just wants to hold on to his new job at Lisa Alioto's pizza parlor, and to keep Lisa from finding out that he's a zombie. But Jack learns that he and Lisa are in serious danger. His second chance at life is the inadvertent result of a lab experiment by two graduate students, and Winthrop University-- a school which knows how to keep its secrets-- will do anything necessary to conceal that someone on campus raised the dead. With the help of Boston's zombie horde, can Jack and Lisa escape Winthrop's sinister clutches?

Nora Fleischer has a PhD from Winthrop University, and promises every word of this story is true. She lives in Minneapolis with her lovable husband Sven and children Wolfgang and Anastasia.  She’s on Twitter as @zombinanora.  Or you can talk to Jack at @bzsgjack, which might be more fun.

New cover for Grand Master's Pawn by Aurora Springer

GRAND MASTER’S PAWN 

by

Aurora Springer

A thousand years in the future, wars and portal failures disturb the fringes of the galaxy. On Terra, twenty-two year old Violet Hunter seems an ordinary student of the Space Academy, who dreams of exploring unknown planets. She applies to serve as the pawn of one of the twelve Grand Masters, although her hidden talent of empathy makes her ineligible. Violet has defied the prohibition against psychics for half her life. Why should she stop now?

Isolation is the penalty for a Grand Master’s great power because their touch is deadly to a normal person. The Grand Master with the griffin avatar selected the girl with the star-shaped birthmark in spite of her father’s dire prophesy. He is suspicious about his disobedient pawn, yet he cannot deny the success of her missions to strange planets where she finds more than he expected.

Violet seeks the truth about the mysterious Grand Masters. Who or what are they? Do they threaten or benefit civilization? While searching for answers, Violet does the unthinkable. She makes a bargain with her obnoxious Grand Master and challenges him to meet her face to face, risking her secret to discover his purpose. She plunges into an impossible love and a world of intrigues. The vicious conflicts propel her into flight from a terrible enemy and a desperate search for allies to save her new found love.

Liza loves the new cover. 

The raft shot towards the top of the waterfall. Taranis stood, balanced on his toes, and stared ahead from the vantage of his full height. He glanced back at Violet, and shouted above the crash of the water, “The drop is too steep. We must abandon the raft!”

Violet staggered to her feet and stared at the rocky shore. Dubious, she shook her head, “How? The current is too fierce to swim to the river bank, and I can’t jump that distance.”

Taranis stepped carefully across the raft, took the pack from her grasp, and tossed it onto the rocks at the edge of the water. “Get ready! I will throw you onto the land.”

She gulped, wide eyed in alarm. How was she supposed to prepare?

Without further warning, he caught her round the waist and flung her from the raft. Violet shrieked. She flew over the water, twisting with cat-like agility to land on her hands and feet. Her hands stung from the impact, but she was safe on the shore. She turned to watch Taranis.

He ran with the pole in his hands to the edge of the raft, stuck the pole into the water and vaulted to the rocks. He staggered on a slippery stone, and Violet grabbed his wrist and tugged to prevent him from falling. Instead, she slammed against his body with her face pressed against his bare chest, tingling with psychic power. Immediately, she felt foolish.

She lifted her head to break the sizzling contact. They stepped apart, and he stared down at her from those unreadable black eyes in his solemn face.

“Sorry!” she muttered. She lowered her eyes and reddened with embarrassment. Was this athletic man really her Grand Master? The one she had taunted as too decrepit to participate in a mission.

He patted her on the back. “It was a wild ride. You are fearless!”

What a delightful read.

As a master’s pawn Violet Hunter travels over the universe meeting all sorts of sentient alien life forms including Bears, Dragons, tiny cannibals etc, and picking up items that will be useful to her in the future.  She thinks her master arrogant and obnoxious at first, but over time their relationship changes and when he accompanies her, pretending to be a guide, her skills allows her to know he’s her master. He falls in love with her.

I love the detailed world building, just enough, but never too much which can pull you from the story, and the slow but inevitable love between the Violet and her master as they become partners in all ways. I especially love the way Violet wins friends and influences people by being kind and thoughtful to others. That is a strength that the evil members of the Master’s Council cannot tap into. And when Violet needs help. Her new friends step up.

This is a superb story. It has a clear pay it forward message that rings true even in a world of fantasy.

Love it! I give this 5 stars.

 AMAZON

My career in science involves plenty of writing facts for research articles. But, I’ve imagined exciting adventures in weird worlds for as long as I can remember. For many years, life intervened. Now, I have achieved my life-long ambition to publish novels. My published works include science fiction and fantasy with romance and a sprinkle of humor. I was born in the UK and live in Atlanta with my husband, a dog and two cats to sit on my laptop. My hobbies, besides reading and writing, include outdoor activities like watching wildlife, hiking and canoeing.

Media links:

Blog: http://AuroraSpringerNovels.blogspot.com/

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Aurora-Springer/e/B00K2C4NL8

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aurora-Springer/885945434752937

Twitter: http://twitter.com/AuroraSpringer

Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/101087717415198221200/posts

Liza strongly recommends this book.