The blog of author Stacy Kingsley

Movie Review - FIFTY SHADES FREED

4/25/2019

I just finished watching FIFTY SHADES FREED and I've decided not to review it, because it wasn't any better than the other movies. The plot was iffy, it was all about sex (duh), and the "thriller" aspect was so, so, so very dumb. I mean *and here is where I insert spoilers* this entire thing was about revenge because the wrong kid got adopted and another kid got adopted. I mean, does this happen? Do kids look up their foster siblings when they grow up? Do they get jealous of ones who are adopted into wealthier families? I don't know, I didn't think the reason behind the suspense was realistic. Plus, again there was no chemistry between the two main characters.

So instead of reviewing the movie I decided to talk about what I am doing.

I am going to be at the Hanover Book Festival in Mechanicsville, VA. I will be selling books and bookmarks! So come and join. The festival is this Saturday, the 27th, from 10am-2pm!

And next Saturday, May 4th, I will be selling at a comic festival held at the Howell Library: 806 Lyons Boulevard
Fredericksburg VA 22406.

This event is from 1-4pm, and I will have my books and bookmarks there as well!

Some and see me. I love talking to horror and pop culture fans! Plus, we can talk about the awesome new things I have in development!

0 Comments

Book Review - HOW THE WHITE TRASH ZOMBIE GOT HER GROOVE BACK by Diana Rowland

9/15/2018

0 Comments

I might be one of the only people who was seriously disappointed in How The White Trash Zombie Got Her Groove Back, especially since up until this book I've really enjoyed this series. This book fell short for me in so many ways, and I am not happy with how little the characters have changed, except Pietro, he changed a ton in this book.

In this part of the series, Angel finds herself once again doing things she isn't prepared for. She seems to often find herself in situations she isn't prepared for, and often when it does happen her self doubt and self pity is overwhelming and boring. In this novel none of that changed. Angel doesn't listen to those who know more than her, and she ends up saving the day as always, but in stupid, stupid ways.

The relationship between Angel and Marcus is tenuous, and in all honestly it never seemed to be a good one On a side note, there didn't seem to be much steam between the two characters. Angel and Marcus never seemed to meet in a good hot, sexy scene. I don't really read much romance or erotica, but there should have been some chemistry between the two. The end of the book sets Angel up to be in a relationship with a different character in the novel, a character who seems to be an unlikely partner for Angel. In fact the author sets it up so that Angel seems like she is a horny teenager, wanting sex with a lot of men, but always asking herself why she has these sexual feelings.

There was a lot that happened in this novel, and I don't think any of it moved the story along, in fact it seemed to be written for two reasons only. The first was to change Pietro as a character and give the zombies a new power or ability. The second was to change Andrew Saber, and give him a little more depth, but I don't think we needed to read four books to get to this point.

These books are starting to feel, to me, as if they have no idea where they are going, or what story they are trying to tell. I mean, in previous books Angel is seriously worried all of the time about losing her job, and in this one she takes off for days/weeks and gives her job zero thought. This bothered me, because she has been concerned so often, it doesn't seem like her character at all.

Lastly, what bothered me about this book was the title. It in no way had Angel "getting her groove back." In fact, it seemed ass if she was more self-deprecating and whiny in this book were worse than all of the previous books, and in all honesty, I didn't like her very much.

I think this is the last in the series I will read, which is unfortunate because I really enjoyed the idea of the books and the different take on zombies.

0 Comments

Book Review - WHITE TRASH ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE by Diana Rowland

9/3/2018

0 Comments

I really enjoy the White Trash Zombie series, but of the three books I've read thus far this has not been the best. White Trash Zombie Apocalypse takes place in the same location as the last two, but this time, Angel sees that a zombie movie is being filmed at her old high school, and on the field where she lost her virginity (as we hear a few times in the book).

There are some of the same things in this book that were in the last few, things that annoyed me. Angel and her every so often boyfriend, Marcus, don't seem to be very compatible as he is always treating here like she doesn't know what she is doing or that she shouldn't be doing what she is doing. Her relationship with another zombie, Philip, is frustrating because there is all weirdness that isn't at all explained. Her work at the coroners office, which is one of the funnest parts of these books, is hardly represented in this novel. And she misses something important at the end that the author had been building up since the beginning of the book, and that was really frustrating. I felt as if this one thing had happened then Angel would be able to move on to more fun and exciting things in the next book, but she is still stuck.

I do enjoy the relationship between her and her father and how it has developed throughout the books. I also enjoy the character of Heather and Brian, two new characters who were introduced in this book.

Overall, I will probably still read the next book because I think the idea is a good one, and I am not quite ready to give up on Angel, even though she needs to stop being so whiny and girlie (I'm a little girl who can take care of myself but I'm so scared of everything). We will see if I still want to read it after the next book. If Angel doesn't grow any more and stays as frustrating and whiny then I may not continue reading the series. Although Diana Rowland has another series with a strong female character that I might try.

0 Comments

NaNoWriMo

11/24/2017

0 Comments

I've done it. Yesterday I finished the contest for the month for NaNoWriMo at 50,334, but this doesn't mean I am done writing. I feel both good and bad about it. Why? Let me tell you.

I have been working on a new project this month. It has been wonderful since it has also been a while since I've written, really written. This idea came to me in the form of a book title, and then the first chapter, and then it kept going. I've gotten a little sidetracked in it and it will need some major work, but at least it is something, and it might even, eventually, be something good. It feels good to have written, and most days I actually got 2,000 words, which means it isn't impossible. The problem, or at least what I tell myself is a problem, is that I am also an English Professor, and I often have 2-4 classes of papers I have to grade, and I have to do it in a timely manner. Do you know how hard it is to write and grade papers at the same time? Well, for me it isn't easy because I get so stuck in the editing of everything and making sure my grammar is correct that I don't know what to do.

But, I can do it, if I space things out properly and don't have to grade all of the papers from all of the classes in one week, which I have planned for better this next semester. So I am planning, after this weekend because I need a break from thinking so I can read for a minute, to write every day like I have been, and my continued goal is to write at least 2,000 words, which is not impossible.

I feel bad because I shouldn't have been working on something new when I have the last installment of my zombie series to complete. I know, sometimes as a write you can't help but get sidetracked by an idea, but I have been, and it hurts because I really do want to get this zombie novel out of me, and round out the series. I know where it is going, but I've been having problems getting there, partly because one of my characters is refusing to die, and I need them dead. Now, there is a flip side and a good part! I know I can keep writing, so next week I will be working on both books, it might be one thousand words in one and on thousand in the other, but I can do it. I look forward to doing it.

My new novel might be crap now, and honestly it probably is, I mean no one writes a great novel in the first draft, no matter what they say. There is always editing, and cutting and refurbishing, and if they tell you any different they are entirely full of themselves. Even the greats don't have a perfect first draft, and they are honest about it. I'll keep plugging away, and we will see where it gets me, and we will see if you out there in internet land even likes it, or me!

0 Comments

New Stuff!

11/15/2017

0 Comments

First I want to apologize for not blogging for a while. Life has been very busy and of course I will talk a little about that in a minute.

I want to post about a book signing event I will be doing in December. I will be at the Downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia library from 1-3pm. The address is 1201 Caroline St, Fredericksburg, VA 22401 and I hope to see some people there. I am very excited to introduce myself to the people of Virginia. I am currently working on the final book for my zombie series, and another project for NaNoWriMo. I decided not to work on my zombie novel for NaNoWriMo because I didn't want to rush myself. Yes, I know some of you are asking why not, since I do need to get it out and you are waiting anxiously to see how things end.

Besides the books I have been teaching several English classes, which means lots and lots of grading papers. So I haven't been as vigilant with my blog, or updates, or even watching movies. In fact the last thing I watched was the entire SAW series since it is currently on Netflix.

I also received some bad news about one of my kittens. Well, she isn't really a kitten since she is seventeen years old. She is sick and was given less than a year to live, which has been very upsetting. I am trying to make sure that she has a good quality of life, and am giving her anything she wants to eat. In the last three months she has lost 2 1/2 pounds, which is not good at all for an already thin cat.

I do promise to try harder, and I will hopefully have some things to blog about in the next coming weeks.

So please, if you have a chance try to come to the book signing!!! It will be a blast and hey, you can get to know a little more about how a horror writer thinks.

0 Comments

What is Horror?

5/26/2017

0 Comments

There are many different genres of horror, but people often wonder how does one define horror? Honestly it can be anything from a fear of spiders to body mutilation. Horror has such a wide scope that there is no one definition of it, like there is no one definition of Romance (there are varying categories) or Mystery (again, varying categories). Genres in horror vary so far and wide that even main categories have several sub-categories. I'd like to talk about a few different categories that interest me.

Apocalyptic horror - this is basically what I write. I write in a sub-genre of apocalyptic horror, the zombie apocalypse. There is also nuclear apocalypse, virus apocalypse, apocalypse brought on by war, animal apocalypse (there's a great book titled MORT by Robert Repino about a cat run apocalypse, it does have some hard to read scenes, but it is so good). Zombie horror in itself varies. There is horror from the zombie point of view (the Monster Island series and my series both have zombies as main characters), zombie horror that is dark comedy (WARM BODIES), and zombie horror that is very close to the movie NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. When people ask what I write, I often say zombie novels, because that is a simple answer, but in reality I write apocalyptic horror with a strong zombie story. My novels aren't about the zombies, they are about the way we segregate those who are different. Honestly, if an apocalyptic novel is well written, it usually isn't about the apocalypse, but the way humans react to the apocalypse. Do they tear each other down? Kill because they can? Rape because they can? Build societies they believe to be prefect utopias? Nothing is ever as they seem really.

Ghost Horror - this isn't always your typical haunted house book, although those are ghost horror. This genre can range from a haunted house to Simon R. Greens "Ghost Hunter" Series, even Emily Bronte's WUTHERING HEIGHTS can be considered ghost horror. There are some issues with ghost horror these days as ghost (much like vampires and werewolves) are being used in other genres as romantic devices, which I don't necessarily approve of, but I still read the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. I try to keep up with pop culture and new trends so that I know what is out there and where horror is going. Ghost horror can be anything from a haunted house to a woman who works in a boys home, but who is really dead herself. It can be written from a scared woman's point of view, or it can be written from the ghosts point of view. It can be all about finding the murderer, or it can be about making sure the people left behind after your death stay alive and find happiness. Why are so many attracted to ghost horror? Because no one is sure what, or if, the afterlife may be like.

Extreme horror - this is a horror that involves a lot of gore, language, violence, and often revenge. This horror is found in movies like SAW and several books by Ray Garton and Edward Lee. Extreme horror is not for everyone as it often is very graphic and can be disturbing. For example, in THE CELLAR by Ray Garton he graphically writes about the rape of a child, and again this is not for everyone, in fact there may be a small underground love of these books as some readers do this behind closed doors and often do not share that they read this type of horror. I have read several of Edward Lee's novels and while I love his "Infernal Angel" series his novel FLESH GOTHIC was a little much for me as it involved lots of sex, body mutilation, and debauchery. This horror is for those who like the adrenaline rush of finding out if the girl who was raped and left for dead gets her revenge, in the most violent way possible.

These are a few of the genres that I wanted to explain a little bit about. Often zombie novels are compared to extreme horror because they involve body horror (decomposing bodies described in graphic detail as they wander across the earth). Zombie novels can be extreme horror, and they can be body horror, just because a book fits in once genre or sub-genre of horror doesn't mean that it won't also fit in another. Genres are fluid and they are ever evolving. What is a straight-forward genre today, might actually be a a sub-genre of something else in the future.

0 Comments

Christmas Gifts

12/21/2016

0 Comments

Books make excellent gifts! Give your loved ones either an ebook or paperback of my books. You almost can't go wrong with zombies, unless they are into vampires, then you just have bloodsucking zombies!!

A bonus, if you haven't found that perfect gift, ebooks are an immediate gift, available as soon as you buy it!!! Take advantage of this and get some zombie books today!!!

The links are below!

Here is the link to the ebooks on Smashwords (they are also available on kindle and nook but you can also get them all here).

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/zombieauthor

Here is the link to the paperbacks and ebooks if you just want to shop directly on Amazon!

https://www.amazon.com/Stacy-Kingsley/e/B00JEQVR30/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1482352970&sr=8-1

Here is the link if you prefer to buy books and ebooks on Barnes and Noble!

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/stacy+kingsley?_requestid=932142

Not only will you be giving the awesome gift of books and zombies, but you are supporting the arts and it is always a great idea to support the arts!!!

0 Comments

Movie Review - FIFTY SHADES FREED

Book Review - HOW THE WHITE TRASH ZOMBIE GOT HER GROOVE BACK by Diana Rowland

Book Review - WHITE TRASH ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE by Diana Rowland

NaNoWriMo

New Stuff!

What is Horror?

Christmas Gifts

Stacy Kingsley

Archives

Categories