Jennifer Brown

Oh, look! The blog tour bus is rollin' through (*pauses to sing the Wells Fargo wagon song from The Music Man)!

Who's in the front seat today? Stacey Jay, author of YA novels, YOU ARE SO UNDEAD TO ME; UNDEAD, MUCH?; and now her newest book, MY SO-CALLED DEATH.

I'm so excited to have Stacey back on the blog again today, not only because she's sorta my hero (the girl can write! And write! And write!), but also just because she's so nice. (I like nice people).

About MY SO-CALLED DEATH:

Just because you don't have a pulse doesn't mean you can't be perky. 

One second, freshman Karen Vera's on top of the most fabulous cheer pyramid ever.

The next, she's lying on the pavement with seriously unflattering cranial damage. Freakishly alive without a pulse, Karen learns that she's a genetically undead zombie. 

Suddenly, Karen's non-life is an epic disaster. She's forced to attend a boarding school for the "death-challenged," her roommate is a hateful wannabe-Goth weirdo, and she's chowing down on animal brains every day to prevent rot (um, ew?). Even worse, someone is attacking students and harvesting their brains for a forbidden dark ritual. And it might be the hottest guy at DEAD High, the one who makes Karen's non-beating heart flutter! 

Armed with a perky smile and killer fashion sense, it's up to Karen to track down the brain snatcher and save her fellow students from certain zombie death.

My 3 Qs for Stacey Jay:

1) What non-writing activity most inspires you to write?

Exercising is great inspiration. Some of my favorite story ideas have come to me while I'm running the track.

2) Do you keep your rejection letters? If so, what do you do with them?

I've kept a couple rejection emails. One in particular was really harsh. An editor advised me to quit submitting because I would never be published. Now, seven contracts later, I read that email and laugh with evil, victorious glee.

3) What was the moment where it really sank in that you are officially "an author"?

When I got a call to be a guest professor for a day at a local college. They're going to pay me to talk to college students. (It's okay, go ahead and laugh. I did too. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to "profess" about. Guess we'll see come April!)

Professor for a day?! That's awesome! Want!

Thank you so much for stopping by, Stacey, and once again, congratulations on your book! Good luck!

Check out more about MY SO-CALLED DEATH here.

About Stacey Jay:

Stacey Jay is a workaholic with three pen names, and a sick sense of humor. She loves creepies, crawlies, and of course, romance. What would a zombie novel--or any novel--be without kisses that make your toes tingle? 

Stacey has been a full time writer since 2005 and can't think of anything she'd rather be doing. Her former careers include theatre performer, professional dancer, poorly paid C-movie actress, bartender, and waiter.

Visit Stacey at her website: www.staceyjay.com

No, not a love of rare flowers, though I do totally dig this song about rare flowers (oh, so what if it's nerdy; just watch it):

But that's not why I'm posting. I'm actually posting some photos of the flower bed in front of my house, where the phlox I planted 11 years ago is finally starting to really cascade over the bricks.

I'm not a big flower person, but something about this cascade of flowers just makes me... happy. And I love happy almost as much as I love reading...

Reading IN the lovely phlox? You lucky statue, you!

This column first appeared in The Kansas City Star, October 14, 2009...

"STUFFED" IN OUR HOUSE

When a family of five is crammed into a modest three-bedroom house, there’s not a lot of room for extra stuff. You know, like socks. And toothpaste. And sneezing.

Which is why once a year I declare that we have entirely too much stuff in this house and if I don’t launch a de-stuff-ing campaign immediately, we may have to sleep in the backyard.

I know a lot of moms who de-stuff once a year, though usually they do it in March or April, a chore so epic it has its own title – Spring Cleaning. But I’d take Fall De-Stuff-ing over Spring Cleaning any day. They just seem to go so well together – falling temperatures, cold drizzle, and pulling forgotten potatoes out of the back of the pantry.

First on my list: my closet, otherwise known as T-Shirt Jungle, such a sinister forest of textiles Harry Potter would simply gaze in, snap his wand in two and cry. It’s like a timeline of my life in cottons and rayon and polyester.

Up front, the Mom Uniform – the five shirts that I wear over and over again because I’m in such a hurry to just get everyone to school already I forget I own other clothing. None of them have intact armpits (which makes sense, given how much time I spend in surrender-pose), and all of them are freebies, given away at various school events. Three times a week I show up at Teen Goddess’ high school wearing a t-shirt advertising her preschool spaghetti dinner.

Behind the Mom Uniform are the Shirts That Make Me Look Fat But I Won’t Get Rid of Because I Still Have Hope. I leave those alone. Behind those: Clothing That Makes No Sense. You know, tank tops made out of sweater material, ski jackets with the sleeves zipped out, and anything bought in 1993. As far as I can tell, the only thing that exists behind those are Clothes Left Over From High School and it’s just too depressing to go there.

Instead, I hit the bathroom cabinets, where I immediately tire of turning a Tylenol bottle over and over in my hands trying to find the expiration date, then spend an hour or so wondering what chemical it is that, every year, adheres a single Bandaid to the bottom of the cabinet, and worrying that it’s something we ingest when we’re sick and that clearly cannot be good.

Finally I hit the kids’ rooms, all clandestine-like, because it’s an unwritten rule that if a kid sees you prepare to get rid of a toy they immediately can’t imagine how they’ll ever play again without it, and will tell you that it reminds them of all the good times in their life, like Christmas morning and the day they were born. Doesn’t matter that they haven’t played with said toy in two years and that you, technically, found it in the heating duct and that it was a fast food meal toy that the dog chewed because it smelled like French fries.  

So I work fast, glancing over my shoulder every few seconds, trying not to cause an avalanche of Legos and forcing myself not to cheer aloud when I find a cache of dusty video games forgotten behind a stack of dog-eared books.

I ponder that a scientist could have a hey-day in the bottom of the boys’ closet, which contains possible food items, cups ringed with something that was once… alive?, and an ant farm with a hole in the bottom.

But while I’m still on hold with the CDC, a kid sneaks into the room and undoes all my hard work.

By the end of the day, all I’ve gotten rid of are a Tylenol bottle, a Sammy Hagar concert t-shirt, and a cotton ball.

It feels so roomy in here now.

Recently, I've seen some things happening. Some not-so-great shows of intolerance and incivility and out-and-out public bullying. Blech.

But I've also started to see some other, more positive things happening. Signs that people are sick of bullying, sick of hate, and are ready to start really rallying in an effort against those things which bring us all down.

This week has seen tons of buzz for a fantastic Facebook group, YA Authors Against Bullying, begun by authors Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones, in response to the tragic suicide of 15-year old Phoebe Prince, who was a victim of bullying. The rally of YA authors to this cause has been tremendous, with over 2,300 members (and growing)! With a voice that loud... I have no doubt... we will be heard.

Also this week, writer Kate Beem posted THIS BLOG about bullying, how the media feeds it, and calls for action from parents to stop teaching their children to bully. Further, Kate challenges readers to go one step further and pledge your allegiance to the cause of civility...

Which brings me to the third hopeful step in the right direction I've seen this week: The Civility Project, created by Mark DeMoss to stand up against public incivility. Imagine! Just behaving yourself... watching what you say... watching how you say what you say... standing up against those who don't... If we could all do that... wow, what a difference we could all make.

So I, like Kate, am urging you to hop over to The Civility Project and Take the Civility Pledge. And really take it. In your heart, in your head, in your words and actions. Parents, read Kate's blog and consider how you can teach your kids to be the anti-bully. And YA authors, if you haven't already, join YA Authors Against Bullying. Let's make a difference together!

Giveaway!!!: I have 15 "Agent of Change" bracelets for the first 15 readers to take the civility pledge and then email me with the subject line "I TOOK THE PLEDGE": zoise30@gmail.com

Recently, I've seen some things happening. Some not-so-great shows of intolerance and incivility and out-and-out public bullying. Blech.

But I've also started to see some other, more positive things happening. Signs that people are sick of bullying, sick of hate, and are ready to start really rallying in an effort against those things which bring us all down.

This week has seen tons of buzz for a fantastic Facebook group, YA Authors Against Bullying, begun by authors Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones, in response to the tragic suicide of 15-year old Phoebe Prince, who was a victim of bullying. The rally of YA authors to this cause has been tremendous, with over 2,300 members (and growing)! With a voice that loud... I have no doubt... we will be heard.

Also this week, writer Kate Beem posted THIS BLOG about bullying, how the media feeds it, and calls for action from parents to stop teaching their children to bully. Further, Kate challenges readers to go one step further and pledge your allegiance to the cause of civility...

Which brings me to the third hopeful step in the right direction I've seen this week: The Civility Project, created by Mark DeMoss to stand up against public incivility. Imagine! Just behaving yourself... watching what you say... watching how you say what you say... standing up against those who don't... If we could all do that... wow, what a difference we could all make.

So I, like Kate, am urging you to hop over to The Civility Project and Take the Civility Pledge. And really take it. In your heart, in your head, in your words and actions. Parents, read Kate's blog and consider how you can teach your kids to be the anti-bully. And YA authors, if you haven't already, join YA Authors Against Bullying. Let's make a difference together!

Giveaway!!!: I have 15 "Agent of Change" bracelets for the first 15 readers to take the civility pledge and then email me with the subject line "I TOOK THE PLEDGE": zoise30@gmail.com

I got some more photos from my recent trip to St. Louis:

My two amazing hosts, Carrie and Andrea

Stop #1: Career Academy High School, where the librarians have the best, most contagious positive attitudes ever!

And where the students have talent!...

...and energy!

(And, OMG, my cheek muscles are burning... Hey, JB, take it down a notch! You look like a deranged clown...)

Stop #2: Confluence High School, where I got to speak to a HUGE group of students in the gorgeous downtown branch of the St. Louis Public Library.

And where I forgot to change back into my high heels and could barely see over the podium (cue Short People song).

Final Stop: St. Louis Public Library, Carpenter Branch, where I apparently thought it was a good idea to stand in front of a group of people and make intelligent faces such as this ("I shall now conjure my muse by waving my hand over the book and looking heavenward with my lips pressed together...")

All in all, I'd say St. Louis is damn good to their visiting authors!

Just as I'm finishing up my first round revisions on my WIP, I get news that couldn't be better-timed.

Hate List makes the New York Public Library's Stuff for the Teen Age list! Awesome! (And speaking of awesome, the entire list is filled with great stuff. You should check it out by clicking HERE.)

I so needed a shot of writing energy today. Thanks, NYPL!!!

My friends at St. Louis Public Library sent me this photo today. Me, taking on the chocolate banana malt at Crown Candy. So good!

Yesterday I spent the day in fabulous St. Louis, Missouri, visiting a couple of schools and a couple of libraries and generally being all writerly-ish.

There were some real high moments for me on this trip. Two tireless youth services librarians who stuck with me throughout the long day and who showed themselves to be intelligent, approachable, witty ladies with tremendous passion for bringing kids and books together. A school librarian whose smile was infectious and whose charm bubbled over. A student with mad drawing skills who is writing a graphic novel. And that's just the beginning.

I will admit that I had one of *those* moments, where it really slammed down on my head, the fact that I was standing in one of the most beautiful libraries I've ever stepped foot in (if you haven't ever been to the downtown branch of the St. Louis Public Library, you really must get there!)... where all these great books -- many of them books that nurtured my own love of reading, I'm sure -- were on the shelves. Miles of imaginations stacked here and piled there... and among them was... my work. Whoa. It was a staggering realization for me, really. Not a full-of-myself pat-me-on-the-back-wouldja kind of moment, but a, "Holy shit, how did I get here?" kind of moment. I had to be careful not to cry. And also... for the first time... I stepped up to the microphone so nervous I wasn't sure I'd be able to go on.

Speaking of nerves... as I waited for the students to file into the library at my first visit (at a really cool career academy that had such great classes, I kinda wanted to go back to high school), two men walked in, one of them carrying a video camera. He proceeded to tell us that he was going to be taping about 10 minutes of my speech, to include with their video entry into a contest to get President Obama to come speak at their high school graduation. Of course, my first thought was, "Omigosh, Obama might see ME talking about MY book?!" And then my second thought was, "Wait. Isn't he friends with OPRAH?!" Well. A girl can dream.

But anyway, there was one moment out of the whole day where I think my top-notch professionalism really shone through. It went something like this:

MY GUIDE: So, after this visit, do you want to go to lunch?

ME: Yeah!

MY GUIDE: Do you have any dietary restrictions?

ME: Nope.

MY GUIDE: Do you like ice cream?

ME: Ooooh, yes.

MY GUIDE: I'm going to take you to this little local place called Crown Candy.

ME: OMIGOD, I SAW THAT PLACE ON MAN VS. FOOOOOD!!!

Of course, I further made an ass of myself by making a beeline for the counter when we got to Crown Candy and going, "Didn't I see this place on an episode of Man vs. Food? Adam took on the 5-malt challenge, didn't he? And he didn't finish. He only drank four and a half. Right? Riiiight?"

And then I proceeded to order the chocolate banana malt (um, holy yum, it's a good thing I don't live in St. Louis now that I know that exists), and only finished 1/2 of it, proving to myself that my working theory is, indeed, correct: Adam Richman isn't human.

Oh, and my lovely hostesses took a photo of me holding up my malt proudly. I have no shame.

A million photos were snapped. If any get passed on to me, I'll post them. In the meantime, back to my revision dungeon.

Attention: All undead, please step to the front of the bus! 

Today I'm tossing 3 Qs at Stacey Jay, author of YOU ARE SO UNDEAD TO ME, and her newest YA novel UNDEAD MUCH? You may remember I posted Stacey's awesome "Red Thursday" video to celebrate the launch of UNDEAD MUCH?, and since I love videos, I thought I'd also post this great video trailer of the book as well:

About UNDEAD MUCH?:

Even Zombie Settlers with Super Hot Boyfriends get the Blues... 

A few months ago I was a normal girl with a normal life. But that was before my power to Settle the Undead returned and someone tried to kill me with zombies. 

Now I work magic and practice kicking butt while trying to find time for pom squad and my boyfriend, Ethan, and trying NOT to think about how freaky my life has become. It can be tough. Still…things could be worse… 

Oh yeah, right:

1. Feral new super-strong zombies. Check.

2. Undead psychic hottie predicting a zombie apocolypse. Check.

3. Earth-shattering secrets that could land me in Settler prison for life. Check.

4. Cheerleader vs. pom squad turf war threatening the end of the half time as we know it. Check. 

I’m going to need therapy (and a cookie) if I live through the week. Unfortunately I’m learning that’s not something Zombie Queens can take for granted.

3 Qs for Stacey Jay:

1) What non-writing activity most inspires you to write?

Playing with my two little boys. They make me laugh so hard and nothing inspires creativity like laughter. (Except maybe getting really hacked off. But laughing is a lot more fun and better for my blood pressure.)

2) Do you keep your rejection letters? If so, what do you do with them?

Nope. I pitched them. I didn't want to be tempted to dwell. I mean, it's not like I'm going to forget what they said anyway. (Believe me...I've tried!)

3) What was the moment where it really sank in that you are officially "an author"?

When I started getting fan mail after YOU ARE SO UNDEAD TO ME. It really brought home that there were people out there reading my book!

Thanks for hopping aboard the tour bus, Stacey!

By the way, this won't be the last time Stacey drops by my tour bus this year. She'll be back in April to celebrate her next novel, MY SO-CALLED DEATH! Woohoo!

About Stacey Jay:

Stacey Jay is a workaholic with three pen names, and a sick sense of humor. She loves creepies, crawlies, and of course, romance. What would a zombie novel--or any novel--be without kisses that make your toes tingle?

Stacey has been a full time writer since 2005 and can't think of anything she'd rather be doing. Her former careers include theatre performer, professional dancer, poorly paid C-movie actress, bartender, and waiter.

Visit Stacey at her website: www.StaceyJay.com

Get your copy of UNDEAD MUCH? here!