ZOMBIE NATION MEETS TWILIGHT. (4 DAYS LEFT.)

Status: Still packing and moving things. Nearly complete.

Watching: News.

Listening to: "Dead Silicon"-by PTI; "Brave New World"-by Covenant

Reading: Kushiel's Scion. Page 716.

TOPIC: FORKS ARTICLE ON 'TWILIGHT'

Just so everyone knows--the use of the town of Forks, Washington for the Twilight-series, has nothing to do with the setting for Zombie Nation: Outbreak Zero.

It's just a coincidence that I happen to use the setting for the initial choice place for the book. When I started the book last year, I just wanted something different for a book. And so I looked to my own state for inspiration--since I am a resident of Washington.

I thought Forks would suffice and have Emily commute back and forth to her defense arts classes in Port Angeles.

But by the looks of things...Port Angeles will most likely be where all the action will be taking place--before and after the virus sweeps the world and turns most everyone into flesh-eating zombies of otherworldly origins. :0)

Emily Rose Jordan won't be returning to Forks until many years after the world calms down to some degree. (But it won't mean she's out of the woods just yet.)

Anyways...

Here's the article

***

Visitors flock to timber town for Twilight's magic

FORKS, Wash. - Pounding rain and heavy mist are constant in this timber town where logging's decline left a graveyard of rusting timber mills and unemployment. Businesses shut down. Parts of the local high school were condemned. Families started to drift away.

Until an unlikely cast of vampires breathed new life into the town.

"I fell in love with it," says 18-year-old Samantha Cogar, who dragged her grandparents on a 2,500 mile roadtrip to Forks from Louisville, Ky., earlier this summer. "I can't wait to go back."

Cogar is one of thousands of visitors who have flocked to Forks in response to "Twilight," the hottest series to hit shelves since "Harry Potter." Set in Forks, on the gritty edge of the Olympic Mountain Range, the books have captured the hearts of readers around the world.

In a town framed by towering Douglas fir, hemlock and spruce and the occasional western red cedar, where rough, blue collar edges are tangible, the unexpected attention seems to be a second chance for the economy. Inspired by a world of make-believe, "Twilight" fans are bringing the town back to life.

Four years ago, Author Stephenie Meyer introduced the world to Bella Swan, a 17-year-old who moves to Forks and is torn between the love of classmate Edward Cullen and best friend Jacob Black. But before long, she realizes something isn't right: Edward is a vampire and Jacob, a werewolf.

Readers were hooked, and three more "Twilight" books followed. "Breaking Dawn," the fourth and final book of her "Twilight" series, came out in July and has remained at the top of best seller lists ever since. Teens throughout the country celebrated the release of the book by dressing up as characters from the series for midnight parties at bookstores — much the way "Harry Potter" books are launched.

As the pages kept coming, the series' cultlike following increased. Before long, fans started showing up in Forks, looking to see if magic would spark when imagination collided with reality. What they found was a two-stoplight town where more than a foot of rain falls each month. A place where success is measured in sweat and four-wheel drive.

But Forks was quick to embrace the frenzied fans.

Forks' "Twilight"-inspired turn has been nothing short of magical, Marcia Bingham, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, says.

"We've probably had more than 100 people a day," says Bingham, who has eagerly watched as van after van of giddy readers — mostly female — pull up in front of the town's visitors center.

For many fans, the line where reality ends and imagination begins is starting to blur, says Michael Gurling, who caught inspiration from the tourism boom and started his own Twilight Tours.

After enlisting a few locals, he asked for help in picking out houses that could serve as stand-ins for the book's famous Forks' stops: Bella and Edward's houses, a field where vampires play baseball. Other locations, such as the police station, where Bella's father works, and the hospital, where Edward's father is a doctor, play their own parts. They chipped in, providing cruisers near which fans may take pictures and reserving a spot for "Dr. Cullen" in the parking lot.

"The most popular spot is probably the beach, in LaPush, where Bella finds out the truth about Edward," says Gurling.

On a recent Friday, Gurling's van headed out of the visitor's center parking lot — packed, as it is most every weekend, with teenage girls. Outside the stand-in for Edward's house, a sign on the door says "Cullens" are volunteering a blood drive.

"It's not quite how I thought it would be," says Yena Hu, a University of Washington sophomore who made the four-hour trek from Seattle to visit. "They're always talking about all the windows — and in the book, the house is on the water."

But it's surprising how much Meyer did get right, considering she'd never been to Forks when she wrote the first book. A quick Internet search revealed Forks was one of the rainiest places in the world, and from her home in Arizona, the stay-at-home mom began rewriting history.

While locals are accepting of their newfound fame, they're all too aware of the mania that is continuing to grow.

Almost everyone has a "Twilight" story: the teen who dropped his library card, only to discover Twilighters had found it and kept it; the cheerleader who has out-of-town mothers stop her on the street offering cash for her uniform; the Quileute native, who heads to LaPush to chop wood and sees giddy teenagers snatching up driftwood as souvenirs.

Jessica Hartman, an 18-year-old who works at the town's pharmacy says "Twilight" has more than doubled profits for the corner store.

Flipping through a guest book for Twilighters, the recent Forks High School grad smiles as she touches signatures from around the globe — Europe, Asia, South America. They're all here, recorded in the tattered pages that spell out the town's fame.

Spurred by the boost in tourism and influx of money, are businesses eagerly trying to cash in on the craze.

Wander down the town's main drag and you'll see "We Love Edward and Bella" signs in store windows and a Forks' Speedway sign welcoming "Vampires and Racers."

Restaurants have started offering Twilight-themed options: Subway's "Twilight Special" which oozes marinara and the ever popular Bella Burger at local hangout Sully's Drive-in, which comes with special sauce and pineapple.

Stacks of Twilight T-shirts sit behind almost every counter in town.

At Sully's, 32-year-old Eleanor Currit waves a pair of plastic vampire teeth in the air — a standard side for any customer who orders the Bella burger.

"When I go back to my book club, I'm definitely going to have bragging rights," she says. "The women in my group are honestly crazy about these books."

Currit, a stay-at-home-mom with a master's degree in English, says being in Forks is like opening a page of the book and jumping in.

"This town just has a pretty primal way about it," she said. "It's really a mysterious beauty."

While the fourth and final "Twilight" book was released earlier this summer, Gurling, a former National Park Guide, says he thinks the release of the "Twilight" movie, set for early November, will only generate more attention for Forks.

And while some long for quieter days, others say "Twilight" might have been what this town needed.

"It seems like we're Twilighting all the time," says Charlene Cross, the town's florist. "But at the end of the day, it makes you feel like we're part of something bigger — and I think that makes it worth it."

Sky

MONDAY TREAT.

Status: Currently writing on The Price of Freedom--Chapter 185.

Doing: Writing this blog; surfing the net; answering e-mails; working out.

Watching: Evening Magazine

Listening to: "Love Removal Machine"; "She Sells Sanctuary" by Rare Cult

Reading: Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey

TOPIC: A SECOND DRAWING OF EMILY ROSE JORDAN




This is another pic of Emily done by Mykia awhile back. I was meaning to post this last month, but things just got so fragging nuts with all my appointments and unscheduled doctor visits! (This is what happens when you have another bout of kidney stones.)

EMILY ROSE JORDAN--DONE BY MYKIA TANISHA

Status: Currently writing on Zombie Nation: Outbreak Zero--Chapter 11.

Doing: Writing this blog; surfing the net; answering e-mails

Watching: STARGATE SG-1; STARGATE: ATLANTIS

Listening to: "Suicide Blonde" and "Disappear" by INXS; "Free Your Hate" by KMFDM

Reading: Finished Resistance by J.M. Dillard (ST-TNG)

Man what a great book!


TOPIC: CHECK IT OUT MY FELLOW BLOGGERS!

Thanks to the kind-heartedness of a fellow writer and artist, the world now gets to take a peek into what Emily Rose Jordan looks like--based on the physical descriptions I gave her; plus one anime pic which I helped give Mykia as a guide.

Emily Rose Jordan may not look it, but but she's really a kick-ass ninja girl whose about to go and save the world from--what else?

ZOMBIES.

This is--of course--in reference to my new novel, Zombie Nation: Outbreak Zero.

Emily is 15-years-old and a junior at a local high school in Forks. Her hobbies are writing, surfing the 'net, and has this crush on a boy at her school.--besides her ongoing martial arts training. (Which was the result of a traumatic childhood incident when she was only 7.)

So what do you think? Did Mykia did a good job or what?

THURSDAY DREARINESS

Status: Currently writing on Zombie Nation: Outbreak Zero--Chapter 10.

Doing: Writing this blog; surfing the net; answering e-mails

Watching: Nothing at the moment

Listening to: "Pistolero" by Juno Reactor; "Caanan" by Mindless Faith

Reading: Resistance by J.M. Dillard (ST-TNG) (On page 225 finally!)

TOPIC: UPDATE

Last few days have been pretty busy. My sleeping patterns have gone askew--and I've been writing like crazy on Zombie Nation: Outbreak Zero.

I creamed an astonishing 4,255 words yesterday--never thinking that operating on 4-hours of sleep could do that to you. (I napped for another 4.5 hours today.)

But things have gone full steam ahead. The novel is presently sitting at 118 pages in less than a couple weeks worth of writing.

In the last chapter, Emily wanted to leave, but she ended up tangling with hospital guards instead. Then the police came and the SWAT-teams; and all hell broke loose.

The girl got arrested and she's looking at some jail time, but I don't know how things are going to play out.

FRIDAY NIGHT

Status: Currently writing on The Price of Freedom; Zombie Nation: Outbreak Zero

Doing: Writing this blog; surfing the net; answering e-mails

Watching: Q13 News

Listening to: "Hunger" by Spectre General; "Humans Being" by Van Halen; "Share This Poison" by Razed in Black

Reading: Resistance by J.M. Dillard (ST-TNG)


TOPIC: ZOMBIE NATION: OUTBREAK ZERO UPDATE

Chapter 1 has 14 pages done so far

Chapter 2 has 17 pages done so far

Chapter 3 has 12 pages done so far--and things are a real mess for Emily Rose Jordan.

Because she's trapped alone with her alcoholic mother--she had no recourse but to dump her mom's booze down the sink and toss the bulk of the cans in the recycling bin.

But when her mom found out about it, she went on the rampage--and pretty much bitchslapped her daughter out of a sound sleep. But Emily didn't stay dazed for long and managed to subdue her mother by accidentally spraining her wrist in the process.

After some choice words from her mother (okay--so there were more than a few choice words), Emily confronted her mother over who she was:

“You wanted me to train and become better able to defend myself–because of what happened with Tiffany. Remember? You held me in my arms after that serial rapist was caught by the police and sentenced to 47 years in jail for first-degree rape and other outstanding charges–including those from four warrants in five other states.

“You told me: ‘Never again, sweetie. I want you to know that. I wasn’t able to do anything to protect both you and your sister.’ ” I looked at her–seeing the shock registering on her face.

“I didn’t think you would’ve remembered that. I thought you were too traumatized by that incident. Even the state psychologists and school councilors said you wouldn’t remember much of that terrible day.” She said.

I looked away from her and then down at the floor.

It took me awhile to find my voice. And my strength of will.

“I remember mom, because I wanted something by which to keep me focused and determined when you and dad enrolled me in those defense classes over in Port Angeles. I didn’t want to forget.” I said with a shaky voice filled with rage and raw anger.

“Tiffany was badly affected by that and she never had the chance at romance, mother. Never had a chance for a normal life or a halfway decent relationship with any boy at school. Because that bastard stole something more precious than a teenage girl’s virginity: Her fucking innocence.”

I stood up then and smoothed out the wrinkles in my pants and dusted myself off. My face still stung like hell, but I wasn’t about to let a little annoyance like a bruise get the best of me.

Even if it was delivered by my own mother.

I looked at the clock and found that the digital hands had read 9:16 in the morning. I went to bed right after I finished with some business in the kitchen–right before I dumped a fresh bag of beer cans into the recycle bin for the trash guys to come and collect.

I couldn’t even remember falling asleep after my head hit the pillow. But I knew that my mom was going to be pissed off more than a mother hen when she woke up from her siesta and found that her cherished stash of booze was gone from the fridge’s cold caress.

“I became what you wanted me to be mom: A cold and distant fighter. Someone who wasn’t going to back down from a situation like the one last year in our own house. And I gave those jerks what they deserved. Every second of it. I didn’t shrink from my duties as the oldest member of the house–seeing how Chuck had gone over to his friend’s house for the night and Tiff was still away at Florida State.” I said tightly–my voice trembling a little. “I embraced them–as any good daughter would.”

But her mom still wasn't thrilled with what happened with her beer--but she didn't press her on the subject matter afterwards.

If you're still wondering when I'm going to get to the flesh-eating zombie part--be patient. This novel hasn't hit its full stride yet.

I still have a lot of work to do on the book.

Yesterday, I found some updated articles on the meteorite hit in Peru and found that the hole caused by the impact was of pretty good-size.

So more material for me to use. :0)

A PREVIEW FOR MY ZOMBIE NATION BOOK SERIES

Status: Currently writing on The Price of Freedom; Zombie Nation: Outbreak Zero

Doing: Writing this blog; surfing the net; working out

Watching: KIRO 7 News

Listening to: "Storm Trooper in Drag" by Gary Numan; "Born to Be Hated" by Hocico; "Annie Would I Lie to You" by Iris

Reading: Resistance by J.M. Dillard (ST-TNG)


TOPIC: ZOMBIE ALERT!

Okay. You know the drill ladies and gentlemen!

Drop and give me 40! (lol)

Seriously.

Nah. I'm just joking. No one needs to do push ups if they don't want to.

Anyone know how to get rid of zombies? You know: Those fun-loving, evil-looking, dead guys we always hate, fear, and love?

I decided to embark on a Halloween tradition--apart from my normal day to day postings of my books--and give the horror angle a whirl.

So starting in October, I'm going to be posting chapter drafts of both my Vampiress Hunter novel, and this new Zombie Nation: Outbreak Zero series on my skysbooksonline group. Two novels--one running for two weeks at a time.

As part of the Halloween tradition.

Zombie Nation: Outbreak Zero is the first novel--and I haven't figured out what the storyline is overall or how long it will be.

But the premise is sound: A deadly virus pops up in South America--causing people to die at an astounding rate. But a meteorite hitting outside a local village is also causing people there to get sick and die of a mysterious illness. Now, whether or not the two are connected--remains to be seen.

But the dead start to come--taking over the continent and then spreading north at an alarming rate.

Anyway, I'm not too worried about the particulars. The novel is being written in a first-person perspective--like my Stories of the Dead Earth (not a zombie saga, but one that is an extremely cool fantasy series)--features a 15-year-old heroine, and has a lot of suspense and horror.

And maybe some comical wit penned throughout.

And no, this has nothing to do with the Andromeda Strain. It's just something which came up out of the blue--from a dream of mine a couple months ago. (The kind that you can't get rid of.)

Also, a recent news article helped fuel things a bit for the book--so I included that in the opening chapter.