Carey Burns

So I ate lunch outside today and got bitten by several weird-looking bugs. I don't know what they were and can't seem to find a picture resembling them, so I'm just going to refer to them as The Little Bastards. Anywho, I was able to swat them away so they didn't feast on me too badly, but I started to wonder...what would happen if you weren't able to move to swat them away or squish them? Now I feel like The Little Bastards are crawling all over me. Yuck. There's a story here, but after writing about bedbugs, I'm a little hesitant to write about these things. I can only be freaked out so much before it stops being funny. In other news, I'm nearly done with a silly tale of three vultures that hatch a scheme to kill people. Just hope I can find a market for it...

Sheesh, it has been a long time. Let's see, I was delighted to learn that my flash fiction piece "Zombie 101" was accepted along with "Outbreak" into Rapid Decomposition-Living Dead Flash Stories, which will be a PDF compilation of zombie flash fiction. Very spiffy! I just submitted a silly tale called "Dracula Meets the Packrats" and this is a continuation of "Dracula Meets the Clutter Crew" which will appear in Groanology: Amusing Monster Mash-ups. I hate that post-submission queasiness but I think if I work my butt off writing something else, it'll take my mind off of the nerves. It's Halloween in my house for sure: the living room is decked out in orange and black and I'm busy making more scary houses. I've even made a sweet little Swarovski crystal spider and am plotting a way to make a bracelet out of it. Pictures to follow... The Ghoultide Gathering is just around the corner and I can't wait to see some incredi...

Well, September is nearly here and that means my official 3 month long Halloween insanity will begin soon! I've already booked a room near Hell, Michigan so that I can attend the Ghoultide Gathering , created a Halloween House, and traced my friend's arms for a very creeptastic porch decoration... Writing has been a bust lately. I think I've let events in another aspect of my life stifle my creativity and that just stinks. Gotta stand up, shake off the negative, and let the weird out again. I invite you to do the same.

While perhaps not the BEST strategy for dealing with stress in life, it certainly is a delicious strategy. So much has been going on lately but nothing I want to blog about, so mind your business. (just kidding!) The Zombist is available for purchase so if you've got a hankering for cowboys and Indians and zombies, (who DOESN'T?) check it out! My little tale is the 2nd one, right behind Eric S. Brown. If you know zombies, you know who he is. Now that work is back to normal hours, I've had time to finish books I've started and am so happy! Empire by David Dunwoody is incredible and left me wanting more...I'm lucky, there is a sequel on the horizon. Yay! I'm also nearly finished with The Apocalypse and Satan's Glory Hole and the darn book is like some itch-inducing drug and I can't seem to put it down, no matter how dirty it makes me feel... Not much full-on writing going on but I've written a poem for a bad poetry contest. I think it's bad...

Well, I sent what I believe is the third email to Author Central (Amazon) to get a writer's page. My stories do appear in real books so I should be able to set up a page. You would think so anyway... Anywho, I still keep struggling with what background I want for my (eventual) web page and I think I had a breakthrough last night. With any luck, I'll get the artwork done this Friday. Or if I'm ambitious, perhaps tomorrow before my follow-up doctor appointment. The Writer's Block has me in its grip right now and I'm feeling a little morose. I do have ideas for stories, but no writing to show for it. Not a fan of The Block.

I'm giddy to announce that The Zombist is now available through Createspace and will be on Amazon very soon. I wrote a story called "Goldfield Goes To Hell" for this zombie western anthology and it looks like this will be a very big book. 450 pages big. I can't wait to get my copy to see what the other writers came up with! Here's another thing that made me giddy today. Gotta get into the Halloween spirit somehow!!

A nice, plump envelope filled with semiprecious stones was waiting for me on the porch last night so I had to make up a bunch of bracelets right away. My favorite is a big chunky strand of rough faceted seagreen jade. I liked it so much that I decided not to sell it. It kinda reminds me of Wilma Flintstone's necklace but honeydew melon colored. Pretty! And, I've got goodies coming to me so that I can make a little something wickedly adorable for Halloween. Here's hoping it turns out as well as I imagine it. I should be getting "The G.O.R.E. Score, Volume I" by Tony Schaab too. Yes, another book. I can't help it. I will be putting the brakes on book-buying soon so I can sink my funds into other things like...oh...I don't know...flooring. We've been putting it off and putting it off but it needs to get done. Ah, the joys of homeownership.