More Reviews Rolling In

So, I'm way behind in posting reviews, again. Sorry reviewers, I really do appreciate  the fact that you graciously give your time to help struggling authors. I'm just not very good at keeping up with you.

First up (and most belated) is a review from Kitty Bullard at Great Minds Think Aloud. Kitty loved SZJMB, well her exact words were, "I absolutely, 100%, loved this book!"
She's also the first person to spot a little Easter Egg in the print version of the book. I won't spoil it here, but if you are interested, check out her great review.

Cordelia Dinsmore frequents Absolute Write, a great writer's community and contacted me on there about getting a review copy. She's not a zombie fan and was a little worried SZJMB might not suit her taste, but I think the characters won her over as left a great review, "I think MJ has nailed the middle grade voice. I have a young son, so we read a lot of middle grade books around our house. We also watch quite a bit of kid-friendly television. The characters in SZJMB think and act quite similarly to many of the kids, both real and fictional, with which I am familiar."

Cordelia has her own MG/YA book, Michaela's Gift coming out next month, so keep an eye on her blog.

Last, is my shortest review ever (not counting iPod/Pad reviews), but it's still a great one, from Trisha at Passing Through. This also happens to be my first Tumblr review, which explains why it's just three (great) sentences.

Google Digs Up New Reviews & Deranged Zombie Teddy Bears

In theory Google News Alerts tells you anytime someone posts news, a blog, or even a new webpage about you or your book.

However, as I recently figured out, the alerts sometimes miss blogs (and other pages) that the Google search engine picks up. I was recently searching for an old review of SZJMB on Google when I noticed pages that I had never received alerts for.

This lead me to search Google for undiscovered links to Super Zombie Juice. Most turned out to be worthless, mostly Amazon affiliate links. But some were Gold. I found two reviews and two mention of my book in blogs!

First, I found a great blog: Paranormal Sisters. They gave SZJMB 4.5 stars and wrote a great review. Here's a quote:

"Over all I totally loved and am happy with how it ended, with a slice of sense of humor. But I want more. Whether more of these characters or more of MJA Ware writing, which is lucky we get two bonus short stories along with this book. Yay. "

My reply is: Don't worry Dashley, book 2 is coming along! If you've never heard of this blog check it out, it has some great reviews and they provide updates on Free paranormal Kindle books.

Elsewhere, I found what seemed to be a great review from The Crew of Misfits:

"SUPER ZOMBIE JUICE MEGA BOMB is the first installment of this unique series that is something new, something fresh, and ..."

But alas, the site is now offline and all I can read of the review is that small portion which Google had cached.

I found one more blog: Jess Resides Here (header may not be work safe) recently got a copy and I'm keeping an out for the review.

Last, there was a really cool mention on the blog, Tales of a Semi-existent Being. Apparently, the blogger had a dream (maybe more of a deranged nightmare) inspired by a wonderful zombie book, Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb (his words, not mine) :

"The zombies were giant pink fluffy teddie bears and they zombified you by giving you a hug."

Wow, that's what I call a dream, and the first one (outside of my own while writing it) to be inspired by the book!

Image Credit: http://nightmarelunatic.deviantart.com/art/Zombie-Teddy-Bear-192973591

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays -- and Lots of Reviews

I haven't updated my blog in quite a while; I've been swamped at work (due to the holidays). But I wanted to be sure to take a minute and wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

I've also been remiss in posting SZJMB reviews and there's a lotof them. Hopefully, I haven't left anyone out:

First, way back in November Kayla Merritt did a great review over at The Bee's Knees Reviews closing her review with, "I would highly reccomend it for young readers over ten and zombie fans alike."

Author (in progress), Loren DeShon says, "SZJMB should be enjoyable to any young adult fan of the genre. " in his review.

The Little Library Muse calls it, "a must read." And even lists her favorite quote from the book.

The Alaskan Bookie did a great Mother-Daughter review. They loved the title and cover, but thought the ending was a bit sad. My reply, don't get too down, wait for book two!

Greta at Paranormal Wastelands asked her son to do the review and then interviewed him.

Alexa Loves Books closes her review with, "It's definitely one entertaining read!"

Wow, that's a bunch of reviews. Hopefully, they will spur sales; last month was great, but things have been dragging in December.

Again, I hope everyone has a great Christmas!

More Reviews for SZJMB

Gothical posted a 5-star review of Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb (SZJMB) on her blog. Here's a quote:

"...SUPER ZOMBIE JUICE MEGA BOMB was a fun, fast pace, unique read that I look forward to reading more from the author and MUST have a sequel I would sell a blue smurf for a sequel to this book."

Which leads to my only question about this review: I thought all smurfs were blue?

I also had two great kid reviews over on Goodreads. One by an eight-year-old and another by a fourteen-year-old. I was a little surprised that the younger boy seemed to enjoy SZJMB more and his review has to be my favorite so far:

"Nate & Misty are bestfriends. They decide to run away after they get grounded for sneaking out. When they come home they see the town is full of zombies. They are really smart and move in to a Walmart. By accident they find out that zombies can be killed with lemons and different things that have acid in them. They meet a genius named Kali that help them kill the zombies with a really cool firetruck.

Awesome book." 5-Stars

There's nothing like a review from a target reader to make your day!

If you haven't picked up your copy of SZJMB yet, the ebook is on sale now for 99¢ at Amazon and on my website (in 3 formats).

Win a Zombie Survival Kit

Okay, I've finally got the link for the first Zombie Survival Kit ready. Only your name and e-mail address are required to enter.

There are 3 opportunities for getting more entries:

-Plus 1 for following this blog.

-Plus 1 for "liking" my Facebook page.

-Plus 3 for posting a link on your website, blog, twitter, Facebook, or Goodreads account.

I really want to try to get the word out, so I'm including two chances to get 3 entries for posting a link to the contest (6 entries total). Link here: http://themissingword.blogspot.com/2011/10/win-zombie-survival-kit.html (a bit.ly link is okay).

A winner will be picked by random on or around Oct. 10th. His/her first name and last initial will be posted online shortly thereafter. The winner will also be notified via e-mail and will have 30 days to claim their prize. Unclaimed prizes will be given to charity, re-listed, or disposed of.

Contest valid in the continental US only and void were prohibited by law.

The winner will be required to provide a valid US shipping address. E-mail addresses will not be disclosed, except as required by law. I will not use your e-mail as part of my mailing list, give it away, or anything like that.

Finally, after they read the book, your kids might be inclined to put lemonade in the squirt gun; don't let them--you'll end up with crying kids and red eyes!

Good luck and help me spread the word!

SZJMB Blog Tour List

I just got back from Disneyland late last night and I still have a bit of a Disney hang-over. I have a question about that place: If it’s really the happiest place on earth, why is there a kid balling his eyes out like every twenty feet?

I’m going to try to get entry for the first zombie kit up tomorrow. But as promised, here’s the list of sites hosting the SZJMB blog tour. This includes the giveaway dates for the Zombie Survival Kits too. I might add a couple other sites, or add another contest or two. All the sites are doing giveaways, most are giving away a copy of the printed book, so they’ll be lots of chances to win!

Blog tour:

Oct. 3^rd – Jackie B’s Housewife Blues & Chihuahua Stories
Oct. 5^th – Death Books & Tea
Oct. 9^th – Everything To Do With Books
Oct. 10^th – Zombie Kit Giveaway #1 (here)
Oct. 11^th – Guerrilla WordFare
Oct. 16^th – Turning The Pages
Oct. 17^th – Zombie Kit Giveaway #2 (here)
Oct. 18^th – Lady D’s Dragon Views
Oct. 19^th – Teenage Reader
Oct. 24^th – Manga Maniac Cafe
Oct. 25^th – Zombie Kit Giveaway #3 (here)
Oct. 26^th – M.Pax, The Wistful Nebulae
Oct. 30^th – Fantastic Adventures
Oct. 31^st – Zombie Kit Giveaway #4 (here)

Let me add a big Thank You to all the sites that agreed to host me!

Zombie Survival Kit Giveaways

This weekend I’ll be kicking off my blog tour. At each site I visit, I’ll giveaway an ebook or printed copy of SZJMB (a printed copy at most stops). I’ve got 10-12 sites lined up and I’ll post a schedule soon.

I’m also giving out a zombie survival kit each week. The kit consists of survival essentials, especially those that appear in the story:

• A copy of Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb
• A high-powered water gun
• Lemonade mix
• Zombie snot (decontaminated)
• Recipe for making your own zombie snot
• LED flashlight
• Duct tape
• Personal first aid kit
• Rope
• Misty’s strawberry flavored lip-gloss
• Emergency glow stick
• Water balloons for making zombie juice bombs

Good luck to everyone. These have some great toys (not to mention great reading) and are the perfect way to kick start your Halloween!

SZJMB Featured on Blog Talk Radio's Journal Jabber

I just found out SZJMB was featured on tonight's episode of Journal Jabber. They were doing a special feature on boy books, though they said SZJMB would probably appeal to both sexes. You can listen right here:

Listen to internet radio with JournalJabber on Blog Talk Radio

In other news, I got a short, but killer review on iTunes, " I could not put this book down I really hate reading but this book I could read it 1000 times if I could"

Because of lack of punctuation (often, teens writing on iPhones skip the punctuation, for the sake of speed) and the hyperbole, I'm assuming it was written by someone in the MG or YA age groups. Which, to me, is sooo much more important than an adult review; it means (at least one person from the) target audience gets it!