Studenstein: Zombies of the Future VBT for Daisy Harris

Sorry it took so long to announce the winner of the copy of Studenstein. The lucky commenter for this, chosen using RANDOM.ORG random number generator is commenter number 7-Fedora Chen! Congrats Fedora, and once again, there were folks who missed out because they did not leave their email address on their comment.

What better way to start the Halloween weekend than with a book about a new and different kind of zombie. Let's welcome Daisy Harris to My Odd Little World. Her latest release, Studenstein from Ellora's Cave, is an action packed futuristic story, filled with romance and fun. And some very intriguing zombies. But first, a bit about Daisy Harris.

Birkenstock-wearing glamour girl and mother of two by immaculate conception, Daisy Harris still isn’t sure if she writes erotica. Her paranormal romances start out innocently enough. However, her characters behave like complete sluts. Much to Miss Harris’s dismay, the sex tends to get completely out of hand.

 If you like science-y subplots, fantastical creatures, and red-hot chemistry, you’ll love Daisy Harris.

website: www.thedaisyharris.com

twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/thedaisyharris

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Daisy-Harris-Erotic-Paranormal-Romance/185042351535537

What is the best thing about being a writer? The worst?


The best thing about being a writer is writing. I love the feeling of getting lost in a story, especially when I’ve imagined and mulled over a scene or scenes for a long time. It’s fabulous seeing the story come to life!
The worst part is the marketing! LOL. I hate tooting my own horn, and I really hate things like website design. I wish I could just hide in my writer’s cave and turn out stories. Of course, then no one would know about said stories and they would only be read my me. Which would sort of defeat the purpose of getting published.


What is your method of breaking through writer’s block?


I don’t really get writer’s block, per se. I tend to write in fits and spurts, but with clear goals in mind. Like, I see the finish line, then sprint as far as I can, then collapse. But I get up quick and start sprinting again. I’ve never been a slow-and-steady type.
Before I wrote fiction, I was a technical writer. So I’ve been accustomed to daily word count goals, and a project-driven mentality. If the book doesn’t get done, it doesn’t get contracted. And no one will read it. And that, I do not want.


Do you bring your own life experiences to your writing? Your own personality? If so how?


I bring both to my writing, but not how you might imagine. I love writing comedy, and I don’t think I would be able to do that very well if I hadn’t dated a lot. I love drawing on the absurd and uncomfortable ways people interact during courtship.
For example, in my short story Cupid’s Arrow the heroine receives a page-long ranty email from her ex-boyfriend than reduces her to tears. Cupid, being immortal, muses about how people before the internet would rehearse long and morose speeches or write letters. However, in the past they were smart enough to not actually send the letters.
And boy—who hasn’t received a long, ranty email like that? And even though you know the sender was foolish for sending it, you still cry your eyes out.


What fuels you as an author to continue to write?


The voices in my head are merciless! Stories write themselves in my imagination, especially once I’ve started building a world. In any universe I create, characters tend to multiply in my head like bunnies. Then I just have to write their stories.


If you could share one major writing tip, to help other writers in their quest for publication, what would it be?

The best thing I’ve ever done as a writer was to take Holly Lisle’s How To Revise Your Novel course. I’ve adapter her methods to suit my own style over time. However, I’ve pulled out those course notes for every story I’ve revised.


If you could write in any other genre what would it be, and why?


While my Love-Bots series can be considered sci-fi, it’s officially billed as paranormal. Over time, I’d be interested in writing more science fiction. Also, I enjoy writing non-fiction. Other than that, I like where I’m at!

Where can we find out more about you and your work?

My website is at www.thedaisyharris.com. I’m also on Twitter all the time. Honestly, if you really want to know what I’m up to, follow me on Twitter! My handle is @thedaisyharris.

Oh, and I also have an author page at Night Owl Reviews. (There are some free reads there too,) and an author page on Amazon.

And finally, have you got a sneak peek excerpt from your current work in progress you can share with my readers and me?

Here’s the start of the next Love-Bot novella, Built4It:

“He’s starting to look like a gorilla.” Lab assistant Ben Speiger spun his stool back and forth in the cage room of Built4 Laboratories. His fingers in their rubber gloves beat a nervous tune on the counter. “Should he be so…developed?”

The re-animated human inside the right-most cage hung from the bars on his roof. He lifted his body over and over again in a rough approximation of pull-ups. The stein, as re-animated humans were called, dropped to the floor and growled.

His muscles stood out, damp and enormous under his thin, blue hospital scrubs. It was oddly sexy. Odd because while the stein was built like a porn star, he was also undead.

  

When you get a chance to read, what books do you love to read?

Lately I’ve been on a big male-male romance kick. Normally, contemporary romance isn’t my cup of tea. But with male-male stories I enjoy a contemporary setting. Maybe because I’m not a man and I’m not gay, it feels like a fantasy world. J
I also love paranormal and science fiction erotic romance. Especially when it’s snarky! My favorite romances contain a lot of humor.


What bores you as a reader?


Hm. No genre or story bores me. But what looses me as a reader is bad grammar and style. LOL. I’m a bit of a style nazi. Sentences that end in prepositions make me insane. Ditto use of passive voice. I find it hard to read books where the writing style is flowery or complex.


What do you think is romantic? What does the word Romance mean to you?


Ooh, tough question! To me, romance is about imagination. It’s the heady cracked-out feeling you get early on in a relationship. It’s a creative well within us that we learn to tap as we get older. There’s also day-to-day romance, like a guy who takes out the garbage. I adore that tension between the practical and the fantastical. Because romance is a blend of the two.


Who would you go out on a date with if you could?


Myself! Then I could order my own dinner and not have to worry about sharing. LOL. Otherwise, I’d go with my husband.


You’re having a dinner party, what five people would you invite?


Oh lord, please don’t make me have a dinner party! I hate having people over to my house. It’s really small and I’m an oddly private person. However, I would love to have Dan Savage over. Oh, him and David Sedaris. Throw in John Stewart, Steven Colbert, and maybe Ira Black. J


Aliens have landed on the planet. What are the three things you would tell them that are great about this planet?


I’d send them over to Cherry and MLK and tell them to get some Ethiopian food. Then show them Wikipedia. Oh, and show them hot running water! Hot running water is awesome!
If you could create your own drink what would go in it and what would you call it?


It would be scotch, neat. And it would include scotch. And nothing more. J


If your life were turned into a cartoon, what cartoon character would you want playing you?


Asterix the Gaul. He’s a shrewd, cunning little warrior from a French series of graphic novels. They’ve made cartoons too, and a movie. (There’s also a Monde Asterix in Paris. He’s like the French Mickie Mouse.)


You’ve been given the honor of naming a planet, what would you name it?


Uranus? Unlandia? LOL. I have no idea!

Thanks for having me on the blog! It’s been a blast. J

Studenstein (Book two in the Love-Bots series)

A man built for sex… A woman who wants more…

Freedom fighter Shani Brown is determined to drag the ungrateful Royce back to her team in Seattle. Despite his denial of mistreatment, she wants to give him a chance at a better life. Due to her horrific past as an unlicensed love-bot, Shani never plans to have sex again. But Royce’s makers punish him remotely with crippling pain. His only escape is to orgasm. Never one to turn her back on a job, Shani soon finds herself servicing him—and soon after, caring for him.

Love-bot Royce Harden wasn’t looking to be rescued, especially not from the San Francisco BDSM club where he was having a perfectly good time. But rescued he was—by a hellcat bent on delivering him to her people. As Royce starts to trust Shani, he begins to dream of freedom. But freedom comes with a price. Royce must face his vanity, his makers, and even the loss of his sexual upgrades if he’s going to be the man Shani deserves.




And now for a quick excerpt from Studenstein

Shaniqua! You stop thinking about that boy’s butt right this second! Shani didn’t know where that voice in her head came from, since she’d never had a mother in her undead life. But yeah, that voice in her head, her “superego” Frank called it, always called her by her full name.

So as she led Royce around the outside of the building, Shani focused on the quiet ticks of birds, the rustle of leaves, anything to take her mind of those little dimples that had shown right below his hipbones, or his deep and intriguing groan. As they walked, Shani calculated their distance from the van. Q-ter’s transmitter would only block Royce’s signal within one city block. The bathrooms weren’t all that far away, but Shani wasn’t accustomed to greenery and open space. Without urban landmarks, she didn’t trust her sense of distance.

His biceps flexed under her grip—not pulling away, but maybe trying to warn her he could. Shani’d touched Royce more in the past few hours than she’d touched any man since her captivity. She wanted to think it was because the assignment demanded she lead him about—gripping his firm upper arm—in case he tried to escape, but that voice in her head knew better.

Shaniqua! Let go of the boy-toy! In the dark, his skin felt warm and hard in her hand. It was a relief when she blinked in the bright halogen lights of the ladies’ room. No matter how pretty or tempting Royce Harden might be, Shani would never be able to stomach having sex again. And almost but not doing would be worse than never having tried at all.

Thank you to Daisy Harris for stopping by, and for giving us a whole new image of zombies. Remember Ms. Harris will be giving away a $25 B & N GC to one random commenter on the tour, and I will be giving one copy of Studenstein to one commenter here on my blog. Remember to leave your name and email address, so I can contact my winner. As always, my winner will be chosen using RANDOM.ORG for fairness.