Olives, Zombies, Spaghetti…OH MY!
Last night I had the pleasure of celebrating Lauren Dane’s year of Über productive writing, meeting irreverent zombie author Mark Henry, and catching ghost orbs with Christina Arbini. What better place to discuss faucet erotica, flesh-eating heroines, and dinner theater hangings than Buca di Beppo?
Lauren Dane was a writing fiend this year, penning two 100-word novels, two 60-word novels, and a bunch of shorter works. She has many books in print and quite a few series. I recommend her Cascadia Wolves series featuring hawt alpha werewolves from Seattle. What’s not to love?

Just because Fate brings you your perfect mate doesn’t mean it’ll be easy.
Cascadia Wolves series
Could there be any worse fate than a road trip from Seattle to L.A.—with one’s mother—to attend a wedding? Why yes, when one isn’t married yet, like Megan Warden. Toss in a grandmother and a carload of already married sisters and it’s a recipe for sneaking sips of “special” coffee while someone else drives.
Shane Rosario has better things to do than attend a wedding where his father’s relatives will be at him nonstop about getting married and having children. If it weren’t for seeing his anchor bond, Layla, he’d have taken a pass on the entire weekend. It would be easy, since he’s become adept at hiding who and what he is.
When the two weren’t even looking, Fate steps in and before they know it, their bond is sealed. Bonded pair, married in the eyes of their people. Two people tied together in every way. Trouble is, Shane’s not sure he wants all that comes with Megan. And Megan’s certain she’s not willing to live outside her pack, pretending to be human.
The distance between them is more than geographical. It’s a widening gulf rapidly filling with resentment…an emotional divide only acceptance could bridge. Can Shane can accept himself to cross it? Only if they let love take control.
Mark Henry writes humorous zombie Urban Fantasy. His publication story is one in a million: He pitched to an editor without having written a single word. The pitch: Sex in the City meets Dawn of the Dead. Editor asked for 50 pages by the end of the month. Mark chained himself to his computer and wrote 50 pages. Editor read it, asked for the entire book. Mark chained himself to his computer and finished the book. Book went up for auction. Book is currently optioned for a tv show. Book 2 comes out in February. Whew! And now I must get my hands on a copy of the book. “Prepare to be insulted” only makes me want to read it more. He is a blogging addict, and can often be found at the League of Reluctant Adults with fellow Washingtonian author Caitlin Kitridge.
Seattle. One minute you’re drinking a vanilla breve, the next, some creepy old dude is breathing on you, turning you into a zombie. And that’s just for starters. Now, the recently deceased Amanda Feral is trying to make her way through Seattle’s undead scene with style (mortuary-grade makeup, six-inch stilettos, Balenciaga handbag on sale) while satisfying her craving for human flesh (Don’t judge. And no, not like chicken.) and decent vodkatinis.
Making her way through a dangerous world of cloud-doped bloodsuckers, reapers, horny and horned devils, werewolves, celebrities, and PR-obsessed shapeshifters-not to mention an extremely hot bartender named Ricardo-isn’t easy. And the minute one of Amanda’s undead friends disappears after texting the word, “help” (The undead-so dramatic!) she knows the afterlife is about to get really ugly.
Something sinister is at hand. Someone or something is hellbent on turning Seattle’s undead underworld into a place of true terror. And this time, Amanda may meet a fate a lot worse than death.
“Gruesome, ghoulish, and utterly groundbreaking. Mark Henry is daring and scathingly funny.”—Jackie Kessler, author of The Road To Hell
Lauren Dane, Mark Henry, Christine Feehan, Julia Quinn, Cherry Adair, and many more Pacific Northwest authors will be at the upcoming Emerald City Writers Conference. The book signing is Saturday, October 11, 4-6 pm and is open to the public. Stop by and say hi to our talented local authors!
Emerald City Writers Conference Book Fair
October 11, 2008: 4 pm – 6 pm
Bellevue Hilton
300 112th Avenue SE,
Bellevue, WA – 98004
This entry was posted on September 14, 2008 at 8:20 pm and is filed under Booklust. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: Emerald City Writers Conference, Erotica, Lauren Dane, Mark Henry, Paranormal Romance, Seattle authors, Urban Fantasy
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
September 14, 2008 at 9:34 pm
Hope you get a chance to read Mark’s book. I reviewed back at the beginning of the year. It’s frikkin’ hilarious! :)
September 14, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Oh, that Mark Henry one sounds like a riot. I’ll plan on picking it up at the bookfair– maybe I’ll see you there!
September 15, 2008 at 3:38 am
Oh, excellent! I just got Happy Hour of the Damned. I love The League of Reluctant Adults sitr (you know, being one myself and all)
September 15, 2008 at 6:08 am
What fun! You have so many fabulous writers out there.
September 15, 2008 at 6:26 am
Aww, thanks for the love. I was so glad to meet you in person and had such a great time laughing and laughing with everyone. See you next month (where I want to hear more about that time travel regency)
September 15, 2008 at 7:39 am
I’ve got Henry’s first book and I think it’ll be a vacation read. I want some fo sure funny ass stuff that’s going to make me snort with laughter and gut chuckle – so that other cruise vacationers will look at me in annoyance. Yes, I want to be THAT cruiser this time.
Sounds like you had a lot of fun! I wish kewl authors visited my po-dunk no account area of the map.
September 15, 2008 at 8:27 am
Sounds like a great evening! Thanks for sharing the pics and insights to Lauren & Mark’s writing successes!
September 15, 2008 at 9:17 am
Had a blast with you all on Saturday night! Looking forward to doing it again! :-)
September 15, 2008 at 9:26 am
Thanks for the heads up about Lauren Dane’s books…I love werewolves. :) AND Mark Henry. I’ve seen a couple of reviews and those were nothing but good. I love books that make me laugh and seeing how he got his book published makes me want to read it even more.
September 15, 2008 at 11:54 am
Oh, I’m jealous! Looks like you had a great time. I have been saving “Happy Hour of the Damned” for a zombie appreciation week :p
September 15, 2008 at 6:44 pm
“penning two 100-word novels, two 60-word novels, and a bunch of shorter works.”
How much shorter can they possibly be?!!!
;-p