The Zombie Walk

The Zombie Walk was AWESOME.  I was a little girl zombie with a possessed teddy bear…that was actually so convincing that I threw it away at The Plaza.  Scary, scary thing.  

I wasn’t there by myself, either.  Jeremy D. Brooks, master of all things gory and prop-like, couldn’t make it because he was doing something just as awesome.  But I snagged a wombat or two, and they ran around, taking pictures, video, and constantly being attacked by hordes of brain-eaters.  Since my camera turned out nary a pic, I’ll be relying on their kindness (and camera) in order to show you what it was like first hand.  There’s a picture of me biting John Skipp’s finger that I hope turned out.  He was delicious, a delightful combination of soap and bloody corn syrup.

Speaking of Skipp, I just bought a copy of his Zombies: Encounters of the Hungry Dead.  Actually, that isn’t the truth, because Skipp was selling them out of the Las Vegas Country Saloon, and Girlie Wombat and I had left our ID’s in our respective diaper bags.  (I know!  Lame, right?)  And since zombies don’t shamble down the street with diaper bags, I couldn’t get in to buy the book, so Mason had to do it.  Thank you, M, for your rather majestic score!  He even had the books signed for me, and that just rocked.  Anyway, check out Skipp’s book, which is gloriously hefty and packed full of great names.  I’m looking forward to reading it.

The best part of the evening?  A handful of us descended en masse on an Elvis impersonator, who didn’t crack a smile and threatened to call security.  Seriously?  You’re dressed up as Elvis, and you don’t have a sense of humor?  Elvis is the most famous zombie of all!

Also, my story “Flat, Flat World” went up at Silverthought Online this morning.  This story is one of my first foray’s into that quiet, misty voice that I now comfortably fall into.  You can read it here.  I actually feel a little bit shy about it.  Who would have thought?

My Heart Goes Out To You, Stranger

And who is this elusive stranger, you ask, and what have they done that makes my heart go out to them?

They Google a sensitive subject, and then they follow that link to my site.  This particular stranger Googles “you are adopted” and ends up here:

 

And then a good time is had by all.   After the trauma goes away, of course.

Music To Write By

Holy SNAP, it’s almost time for NaNoWriMo!  While technically I know this (because it’s October 22, for crying out loud!) things have been so crazy lately that it hasn’t had time to sink in.  Well, you know what?  I just passed by a calendar.  And there are, count them, nine days until NaNo! 

*cue incessant screaming*

No concrete idea yet, but a plot always manages to carve itself out of the stone.  There’s something that definitely helps it along, however: a soundtrack.

I like to write to unfamiliar music.  If I know the lyrics, then I concentrate on them instead of the story.  But there’s something about writing along to something you’ve never heard before, and all of a sudden you catch a strange lyric or two.  Magic happens.  Often music will serve as a sort of catalyst, and my piece will veer into exciting, unexpected directions.  I shiver just thinking about it.

My first novel was written to a rather odd soundtrack of Sufjen Stevens, Breaking Benjamin, and AFI.  My friend sent me a mix CD, and suddenly I found the main character’s theme song.  When I wrote a particularly intense scene, I looped that song and wrote the scene fast, furiously, and with tears running down my face.  Suddenly Ray was brought to life by AFI’s “Silver and Cold”.  The story was better because of it.

So!  Since there is a week and a half until NaNo, I am searching for new inspiration.  Would anybody care to join me on this search?  I’ll be making a NaNoWriMo music mix, and if anybody would be interested in a CD exchange, let me know!  Email me at mercedesyardley (at) gmail (dot) com and we can swap!  Let’s see how music shapes our imaginations.

On a side note, I suddenly have an unhealthy fascination with 90’s sitcoms.  Blossom, My So-Called Life, Parker Lewis Can’t Lose…why can’t I get them out of my mind?!  Oh, the horror!  The delicious, delightful horror!

 

Google history: cthulhu toys, korvapuusti, text to speech, ipod movie player glasses, double homicide, keppra side effects, parker lewis can’t lose, exquisite corpse

What A Prize!

So, this rocks.  Enter Tweet the Meat’s Halloween contest, and what can you win?  A copy of Shock Totem’s debut issue, signed by the very scary Kurt Newton and the not-so-scary Yours Truly!

Or I can be scary.  Whatever you wish.

For Those I Love Back Home

 

I come from a small town.  We spent our time walking down to the corner store to get candy, riding four wheelers in the backyard, and snooping in everybody’s business.  My neighbor would wait on her porch for me to return home from dates, effectively quashing any front-door kissing shenanigans.  If I drove too recklessly, my mother always received an admonishing phone call.  If somebody was sick, there were always balloons, flowers, cakes, and casseroles.  Most of my stories take place in small towns because it is the very essence of who I am.

It’s also a town of tragedy.  There was a mine fire that killed my friends’ daddies.  A few years ago there was a mine collapse that you probably heard about on the news.  It killed my friends’ husbands.  This morning there was a double homicide that rocked the community.  Two parents were killed by a shotgun to the face.  Five of their children were in the house.  One of them was the shooter.

Everybody affects everbody.  This isn’t like the city, where you can get lost and be anonymous.  These people are friends and neighbors.  At the very least, we run into them at the grocery store and post office.  You can’t just disappear here and think that you won’t leave a giant hole. 

I fled my hometown like I had wings on my feet. I wanted to see something bigger and brighter.  But I grew up in a place where actions had consequences, respect was taught, and we always tried to do the right thing.  I think that I learned grace and dignity while I was there.  I certainly learned how to face adversity.

My heart goes out to everybody back home.  Please know that I’m thinking about you.

Dog Oil Press

 

Thanks for all of your support, everybody!  We started Baby Girl on seizure meds tonight, and we’re also doing an EKG and an MRI soon.  My son is also lined up to do a EKG and MRI, for a completely unrelated reason.  I made some little quip about just throwing them both in the machines together to save time and money, and boy, did that fall flat.  Some medical personnel have no sense of humor. 

As for the News of the Writing World:  Saturday was apparently a double header for me, and I missed them both.  (Whoops!)  Tweet the Meat ran two of my tweets, one on Friday and another one on Saturday.  You have to go down a bit on their Twitter feed, but they’re there.  Also, my poem “cuz everybody loves a briskly burning fire” went up Saturday at Dog Oil Press.  I totally dig that poem.  Also, Dog Oil Press rocks because these insane stories and poems run on this baby shower background.  It’s awesome.

Still without an idea for NaNoWriMo, but I’m not concerned yet.  I’m musing about this and that.  A story about loss?  A ghost story?  Another murder story?  Something of beauty?  Decisions, delightful, delightful decisions.  A wonderful predicament, indeed.

Thanks again for your concern and well-wishes.  Crazy stuff like this happens to all of us.  It feels like we’re all alone, but we aren’t.  I am astounded at how many people have told me that they understand the worry and concern.  You know what happens when adversity rears its ugly head and roars at you?  You stand up even straighter and roar back.  We can do this.  Go Team Yardley.  Now break.

Just A Quick Note: In Which We’re Not Dead

Dear friends,

What a weekend!  I can honestly say that I am literally thrilled that we all survived it.  My daughter had more seizures (we’re hitting the neurologist tomorrow), my husband rolled his four wheeler and is all right (he managed to push it away from his head, and then it rolled a dozen times down the hill without him), a little girl with Williams Syndrome (which is what my son has) went into surgery and passed away, and I had a two day migraine that left me barely able to function at all during this mess.  Wow.

I feel extremely fortunate.  I have never been under any illusions that we are immortal and guaranteed a fantastic, painless life, and I don’t take this for granted.  Perhaps we should all take a day away from the rat race and embrace our family.

In fact, I’m going to take my own advice.  Goodnight, all!

Best,

-M

Take A Hammer To That Writer’s Block

Man, I have been suffering.  Suffering!  I can’t concentrate; I can’t focus.  I can’t write a darn thing.  I had a beautiful first line to a story and then…nada.

Too much pressure, perhaps?  High expectations?  I’m not sure, but it’s a miserable thing.  Generally I give myself a little break and the world opens up for me again.  But this time I scouted around on the Internet for something to nourish my brain, and I found it.  A beautiful, serene, ephemeral picture.  First line + picture = MAGIC.  I’m so happy.  I feel whole again.

Also, a wombat emailed me free tickets to Our Lady Peace next week.  My first thought was, “Aw, man, I can’t go!” because the free concerts are usually held so late that I can’t snag a sitter.  But this time?  Super score!  I can’t wait to tell my husband that we’re going.  It’ll be fun.

Their song “Clumsy” was pretty much my theme during my freshman year of college.  I had the words “Hide the telephone in case you realize that sometimes you’re just not okay” written on my calendar.  Because I was all strong in the face of my teenage suffering, and stuff.  Whatever.

Have a good one, you guys.

 

Google history: flowy fabric, writing prompts, pupil dilation, infinite despair, pictures from space lights on earth, jimmy fallon billy ray twitter, woman with bite

WIP Thursday. Just ‘cuz.

I feel like I’m buried under projects, and I need to dig myself out before NaNoWriMo.  This morning I came to the conclusion that I’m going to have to let some things go.  There are a couple of anthology deadlines that I’m just going to miss, and that’s okay.  I’m trying to prioritize, and it’s interesting how things are shaking out.

So!  WIP Wednes…er, Thursday!  I polished Big Man Ben, which now has a new, less blatant title.  I’m going to submit it today.  I’m working on two different short pieces, but I find that I’m more distracted by my Demon story that keeps popping up in the back of my mind.  I stopped working on that a YEAR ago, can you believe it?  I’ll write a scene every now and then, but the bulk of it remains unwritten.  Who knew.

Good news!  I was accepted into Robert Swartwood’s Hint Fiction anthology!  Apparently I am sharing space with Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen Dunn, Jeremy D. Brooks, Barry Napier, and L.R.Bonehill.  I am stunned, and thrilled, and this just rocks.  Seriously.

Also, Tweet the Meat will be having a Mercedes extravaganza!  They’ll be running two of my horror tweets, one today and the other tomorrow.  They’re also going to have a special Halloween Tweet contest, so stop by and enter.  I totally dig this magazine.  Tasty daily morsels of bite-sized horror?  Sold, baby!

Hey, Baby. Let’s Write A Novel Together.

I’m talking about NaNoWriMo, which is National Novel Writing Month to the uninitiated.  The basic concept is that you write a 50,000 world novel in the month of November.  Yes, that’s 50k in 30 days.  Yes, there’s a great big American holiday in the middle of it. Yes, that’s a lot of words.  1,667 a day, to be exact.  Rock on.

This is my fourth NaNo, and it will be my fourth completed novel.  You hear that?  The certainty in that claim?  That’s because, barring severe emergencies, I am determined to get it done.  There’s always this certain time period in NaNoWriMo where you throw your hands in the air and cry, “I can’t do it!  It’s too hard!  I can’t finish this beast!”  That’s when you put your nose to the grindstone.  A finished novel, even a badly finished novel, is better than slinking away in shame.  After all, it’s only 30 days.  And you can do anything for 30 days.  My second novel crashed and burned (because I tried to outline it!  Outlines don’t seem to work for me) but it taught me to finish what I start.  That’s a valuable lesson, but especially as a writer.

So novel with me!  I’m Mercedes_ at the NaNoWriMo site.  Let’s cheer each other on.  It’ll be fun and will serve to light that fire!  How many of you are participating?  Have you done it before?