Guest Post + Giveaway: Nancy Holzner

I'd like to welcome Nancy Holzner to The Book Nympho today.After reading Deadtown, Nancy is become one of my new favorite authors to stalk  read. 

Nancy is helping Tina, from the Deadtown series, to bust a few zombies myths today. {I LOVE Tina!!}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My Deadtown series features Vicky Vaughn, a shapeshifter who kills other people's personal demons for a living. Vicky's apprentice, Tina, is a teenage zombie with an attitude. When I sat down to write this guest post, Tina shoved me aside and stole my laptop. Since the deadline was looming, I sent in what she wrote. I, um, hope you'll like it.

Five Things People Just Don't Get about Zombies

by Tina

This is a public service announcement for all you blood bags out there. You don't get zombies, okay? It gets really old, really fast seeing all the dumb myths you guys have about us. I mean, every zombie movie and video game shows us as stupid, shambling, really gross, and dressed in these hideous torn and filthy clothes. That might be okay for made-up stories, but it has nothing to do with the real-life zombies who live in Boston.

You're not even supposed to call us “zombies.” The proper term is “previously deceased human,” or PDH for short. Personally, I don't mind the word zombie. I think it sounds, you know, kinda edgy. But not if people have the wrong idea about us. So I'm here to reclaim the word “zombie.” Say it with me: I'm a zombie, and I'm proud.

What? I don't hear you. Well, okay, maybe there aren't too many zombies reading this. I mean, if you're a zombie, you already know what you're like, right? Like I said, this post is for the norms, to help you understand us. There are five myths about zombies that really annoy me, so let me set you straight on those. I'll start with the myth, and then I'll show why it's a load of crap.

1. MYTH: Zombies are mindless killing machines. You know what I mean. In the movies or whatever, the zombies just stagger around going, “Unnh, unnh. Braaaains.” And all they're interested in is killing and eating humans. Boooring. First of all, not only can I talk just like any norm, I'm writing my memoirs. How many horror-movie zombies even know how to use a laptop, huh? Second, I've got way better things to do than hunt down humans. I mean, if I had a choice between getting my nails done and killing some norm, I'd be at the nail salon. No contest.

2. MYTH: Zombies eat brains. Please. If you tried to serve me brains, raw or cooked, I'd puke. I mean, wouldn't you? What makes the norms think that dying and coming back to life makes people suddenly crave gray matter as a snack? That's dumb. Zombies do have pretty big appetites, but we can eat whatever we want. In fact, I can eat anything and not gain an ounce. Hello, junk food! (Okay, there is that blood lust thing—zombies get this, um, craving for living flesh when they catch a whiff of human blood. But when that happens, they'll chow down on any body part. It doesn't have to be brains. So just don't bleed around us.)

3. MYTH: Fire destroys zombies. Uh, no. I like the way Vicky (who's this really awesome shapeshifting demon slayer who used to let me be her apprentice) puts it in Hellforged: “A zombie could fall off a building, walk through a raging fire, be riddled with bullets, chug a gallon of drain cleaner, and then go out for pizza.” (Mmm, pizza.) Get it into your heads, people: We're hard to kill. And we're really strong, too. So don't you think learning to live with us sounds like a good idea?

4. MYTH: Zombies smell bad. Hey, I take a shower every day, just like you do. You do, right? *Sniff, sniff* Tell you what: You don't comment on my personal hygiene, and I won't comment on yours. Deal?

5. MYTH: Zombies have no fashion sense. This one makes me sooooooooo mad. Norms assume that once you've climbed out of the grave you lose all interest in your appearance. I mean, why would they even think that? Yes, reanimation makes us look different. Our skin is kinda spongy, with this gray-green color, and the parts of our eyes that used to be white are blood-red. But give me a good foundation, and I can work with that. Plus I still love all the same kinds of cute clothes I did before the plague. Pink, I love pink. And cute shoes and skinny jeans and sparkly stuff. You know, fun fashion. Sure, you'll find some zombies who don't care about what they're wearing, but can you honestly say that every norm you know is some kind of fashionista? Didn't think so.

I'm sure there are tons of other myths about zombies, but those are the five that bug me the most. The next time you're blasting zombies in a video game or cheering for some clueless norm who's slaughtering zombies in a movie, just remember: Zombies were people, too. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLOODSTONE
Book 3 Deadtown Series
By Nancy Holzner 
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Ace
Release date: September 27, 2011
ISBN-10: 044102100X
ISBN-13: 978-0441021000

Boston’s diverse South End is known for its architecture and great restaurants, not its body count. So when mutilated human corpses begin turning up in the area, the entire city takes notice. The killer—dubbed the South End Reaper—uses a curved blade for his grisly work. And even though there’s no real evidence pointing to a paranormal culprit, the deaths are straining the already-tense relations between Boston’s human and inhuman residents.
As the bodies pile up, Vicky, her formidable aunt Mab, and her werewolf boyfriend Kane investigate, only to find that the creature behind the carnage is after something much more than blood…

Buy the book here:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Book Nympho's Review COMING SOON!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the Author:

Nancy Holzner grew up in western Massachusetts with her nose stuck in a book. This meant that she tended to walk into things, wore glasses before she was out of elementary school, and forced her parents to institute a “no reading at the dinner table” rule. It was probably inevitable that she majored in English in college and then, because there were still a lot of books she wanted to read, continued her studies long enough to earn a masters degree and a PhD.

She began her career as a medievalist, then jumped off the tenure track to try some other things. Besides teaching English and philosophy, she’s worked as a technical writer, freelance editor and instructional designer, college admissions counselor, and corporate trainer. Most of her nonfiction books are published under the name Nancy Conner.

Nancy lives in upstate New York with her husband Steve, where they both work from home without getting on each other’s nerves. She enjoys visiting local wineries and listening obsessively to opera. There are still a lot of books she wants to read.

For more information and to follow Nancy Holzner, visit her at:

Website | Facebook | Twitter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Other books in the series:

DEADTOWN
Book 1 Deadtown Series
By Nancy Holzner
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: December 29, 2009
ISBN-10: 0441018130
ISBN-13: 978-0441018130

They call it Deadtown: the city’s quarantined section for its inhuman and undead residents. Most humans stay far from its borders — but Victory Vaughn, Boston’s only professional demon slayer, isn’t exactly human…
Vicky’s demanding job keeping the city safe from all manner of monsters is one reason her relationship with workaholic lawyer (and werewolf) Alexander Kane is in constant limbo. Throw in a foolhardy zombie apprentice, a mysterious demon-plagued client, and a suspicious research facility that’s taken an unwelcome interest in her family, and Vicky’s love life has as much of a pulse as Deadtown’s citizens.
But now Vicky’s got bigger things to worry about. The Hellion who murdered her father ten years ago has somehow broken through Boston’s magical protections. The Hellion is a ruthless force of destruction with a personal grudge against Vicky, and she’s the only one who can stop the demon before it destroys the city and everyone in it.


Reviews:

“Ms. Holzner truly delivers with this incredibly solid debut UF novel. Deadtown is told with an authoritative voice starring a great new heroine, and puts an imaginative spin on the usual paranormal suspects; the plotting and worldbuilding are compelling and undeniably fresh.
“In short – I absolutely loved Deadtown.”

~Reviewed by Thea at The Book Smugglers

Part demon-busting tale, part political thriller, Holzner's take on urban fantasy is exciting and fresh. Here's to the future adventures of Vicky Vaughn!

~RT Book Reviews

Deadtown is a welcome addition to the urban fantasy landscape. Nancy imbues an emotional aspect into her debut that resonates with our own past prejudices and fears and forces us to evaluate our beliefs about this unreal world in a very real way. There is a lot of great action, social commentary, and a dash of romance in Deadtown. The world building, borrowing heavily from Welsh mythology, is fresh and complex. Vicky is instantly likable and realistically tough yet vulnerable. And I can't wait to read more.

~Abigail at All Things Urban Fantasy

Deadtown was one of the most unique books I have read and I spent an hour gushing to my husband about the world. I am so glad that Nancy brought her monsters out of the closet in Deadtown!

~ Reviewed by Robin at Intense Whisper

The Book Nympho's REVIEW

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

HELLFORGED
Book 2 Deadtown Series
By Nancy Holzner
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Ace
Release Date: December 28, 2010
ISBN-10: 0441019803
ISBN-13: 978-0441019809

After Vicky banished her demon nemesis to the fiery depths of Hell, she thought life would return to normal. But considering she has a werewolf lawyer boyfriend, a zombie apprentice who’s angling to become a pop star, and an eccentric vampire roommate, what is normal, anyway?
Then the supposedly banished Hellion starts to trespass in Vicky’s dreams—just as several of Deadtown’s zombies are viciously attacked and become really dead. When Vicky realizes she’s the only connection between the victims, she suspects that the demon is somehow working through her dreams to become Deadtown’s living nightmare.
What she doesn’t know is that her old enemy brings with it a force more terrifying—and deadly—than anything she’s battled before.

Reviews:


Gripping the reader from its highly entertaining opening scene, the terrific Hellforged, the second installment in the Deadtown series, maintains that hold until the very end.

~Bitten by Books

“For demon-slayer Victory Vaughn, intensity and intrigue are revved way up as she is faced with a possible trap of destiny. The thrills are nonstop in Holzner’s latest Deadtown novel as the action races from continent to continent and into the reaches of hell itself. Even better than the first book, this series is becoming highly addictive!”

~RT Book Reviews

The Book Nympho's REVIEW

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Open to US only

Make sure you stop by and follow Bewitching Book Tours at:

Website | Facebook