Man Candy Monday

Welcome to Monday! 

Know what that means? Yep, #mcm

Today’s hottie is Alexander Skarsgard. He can bite me anytime.

He has one of those smirks that just makes the panties take themselves off. Perfect tone of voice, smoldering eyes, one of the best faces. Yes, when he showed his lower gifts in True Blood, I may have paused the show once. Okay, five times. I needed a good look.

What do you think about this week’s hottie?

Cast your novel!

Many novelists have people, places, animals, ect in their head when writing books. Maybe the world is fiction but based on a real place. Or they’ll include an artist who is based on a real artist. It’s very common for authors to have a mental image when writing their books. Not only is it a good go-to reference, but it also helps to imagine scenes, fights, descriptions.

Some notable author casting is E.L. James wanting Robert Pattinson as Christian Grey, according to E! Online. I also remember seeing somewhere that she liked Ryan Gosling, but I can’t remember where I saw that. And J.K. Rowling wanted British actors for Harry Potter. She said it gave the movie some British identity.

I’m no different. When I’m planning out a novel and need a physical embodiment, I look for real people who match my criteria. Then as I write, I try to see how things look. Kind of like a dress-up type thing. How would X actor, who has the right hair, eyes, body type, look in a suit? That’s the magic of Pinterest. I can usually find it. 

It’s not easy finding the right looking person. And sometimes there isn’t a person. For my other pen name, I couldn’t find anyone who looked like my hero, Hannibal, so I had an artist over on Deviant Art make one. Again, as I’m writing I can someone to play the role in my head.

Of course these people will most likely never read my books, and there’s a even slimmer chance a movie would be made from my books. But as I write, I am making a movie in my head. Writers have to direct characters on stage, how dialogue is delivered and so forth.

As a reader, do you have an image in your head? Is it the models on the cover? Or do you have your own ideas? Have you ever read a book where the character evolves, looking differently than the author described? And when it comes to movie casting, who is your favorite? Least favorite?

Man Candy Monday

Welcome to Monday! 

Know what that means? Yep, #mcm

Today’s hottie is my ultimate man: Eminem. Yes, I’m a bit obsessed with him, but can you blame me? Just look at him *purrs*

People may say he's hateful, but I don't think so. He's got amazing lyrics, some that totally are genius. One of the best voices. He wears his heart out there, and really, the love for his daughters is so cute!

What do you think about this week’s hottie?

Addiction

There’s so many forms of addiction. Some are good for us, most are bad. Everything has to be in moderation. Even something like exercising too much can hurt the body. While I definitely need to exercise more often, I have my own addictions.

I recently saw an online debate about if writing is an author’s addiction. For me, it is. I need to write. And I mean I need it. If I go a day without writing, I start to feel crappy. More than a day and my husband is fearing for his life. When I’m not writing I’m always thinking about it. What could this plot point be? How can I pull this off? Will anyone even like it? Thanks to the smartphone, I can do some research while I’m out. And now that I’ve discovered the Cloud (yes, I’m a bit late), I can write if I’m out.

My characters become a part of me. I learn so much about them as humans—because that’s what they are in the world I’ve created—but I also learn about myself. I’ve figured out what kind of man I’m attracted to, what kind I get grossed out over, and the kind of woman I want to be. In a lot of ways, writing any character is like meeting a new person. I want to know as much about them as possible because they are interesting. Since I’m not good around people in my life, having another branch is refreshing. So in that respect, yes, I’m addicted.

Writing also lets me live out my fantasies. A zombie killer? Yes. A fallen angel? Why not? A woman trying to live with vampires? Of course. So getting away from my mundane life for an hour or two is very nice. I think avid readers can agree on that point.

Again, everything in moderation. So what am I doing for my addiction? I mentioned exercising above, but I’m also learning how to cook. Mostly simple things, but I’m liking it so far.

Now if I can get rid of my chocolate addiction…

Do you have anything you can’t live without?

Cover Reveal!

First, thank you for stopping by. My name is August Kert. My debut novel, Bring Me To Life, is coming out in August—no correlation with my name—with Samhain publishing.

A little bit about myself. I’m twenty-seven, live in Ohio (yuck!) and have been married for eight years. I have four pets, zero children, and used to be a hair stylist.

Now that the technicals are out of the way, we can get down to business. I hope you’ve stooped by because either you’ve heard of my book, or just me in general. In Bring Me To Life, the apocalypse started twelve years ago. My heroine, Lyric, has spent half her life running from zombies. She’s learned how to kill them and is really good at it. As you can imagine, she’s lost a lot over the years. Lyric has trouble accepting people because she’s afraid of losing more. My hero, Anson, is a zombie. When the virus turned him, he lost his memories and desires. It left him with one hell of an appetite. He’s fascinated by humans and how easy he believes their lives are. They don’t live by their stomachs like he has to. They can move freely—he’s a bit slow.

And yes, this is an erotic romance, so there is sex between Lyric and Anson. Before you get all squeamish, he’s not full-on rotting, so nothing falls off. It sounds like a fun idea but I wouldn’t do that to these characters.

Here’s the cover in all its deliciousness, and the blurb. 

Plan to survive: befriend a monster. Not in the plan: falling in love with him.

As one of the few humans left alive, Lyric knows a hundred different ways to survive—none of them pretty. Anything to stay out of the “farms” where the not-so-mindless zombies keep humans they eat to prevent themselves from rotting.

But humans have to eat too. While foraging for food, she’s captured and taken to a farm. Her fate seems sealed—until she notices one of the zombies watching her with a different kind of hunger in his eyes.

Anson clings to the hope that he can somehow overcome the disease that turned him into a cannibal. Lyric stirs needs and desires he’s forgotten he had, and her fighting spirit brings back the ragged edge of a past that long ago slipped from his memory.

When Anson offers moments of freedom in exchange for her help, Lyric grabs the chance to survive. She never thought her emotions would cast a very different light on the monster…or that desire would complicate her plan to escape.

Warning: Contains a hopeless romantic zombie trying to find his humanity, and a plucky heroine desperate for a way out—even if it’s down a zombie’s pants. Not for the faint of heart…or the squeamish. Let’s just say kissing is off the menu.

If this sounds like your kind of book, awesome! If not, I still hope you stop by again. I’ll be posting my kind of hotties on Mondays, and posts on Thursdays that will involve romance, passions, anime (I’m a huge fan), or just something that strikes me that week. Please come by again. I’ll have Bring’s links once I have them.

-August