Radio Interview Tonight & New Book Review

Tonight, I'll be doing an interview for a small station in North Carolina at 8:50 EST (5:50 PST) you can listen via Blog Talk Radio. If you miss it, I think you can listen later using the same link.

I only slept 3 hours last night, so hopefully I won't sound like a zombie =-)

Last week, Squiggles Reviews checked out Super Zombie Juice - "This was a really fun book to read. It was amusing, entertaining and silly but still had a great story line that kept me hooked." Check out the full review on their website:

Kindle Daily Nation Gives Super Zombie Juice 5-Stars

Kindle Nation Daily's Kids Corner posted a 5-star kids review of Super Zombie Juice The Graphic Novel. Here's a quote:
"Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb was awesome! I not like this book, I LOVED this book! I couldn’t put this book down."
That's why I love kid reviews; when they really like something, they don't hold back. 


Also, if you haven't done so already, don't forget to enter to win a Kindle Fire as part of the Kindle INDIEpendence Day Giveaway.

The Aussie Zombie Reviews Super Zombie Juice

The Aussie Zombie

I always get a little nervous when sending SZJMB to hard-core zombie sites for review, as it isn't your traditional zombie novel. Fortunately, Kat at The Aussie Zombie, was open to the idea of a zombie book for kids and seemed to really enjoy it.

"...I really enjoyed this one. It's a zombie story, but more appropriate for kids around the 8-10 year age range, although it doesn't hold back on the realities of what would happen during a zombie apocalypse."

Read the full review and find much more Zombie related stuff at (including tons of Zombie book reviews) at The Aussie Zombie.

The World's Greatest Living Science Fiction Writer - No More

I remember like it was yesterday, picking up a book, not even reading the title, just looking for that marketing phase, "The World's Greatest Living Science Fiction Writer." When I saw those words, I picked it up.

At my library, Ray's books were always checked out. Even today, check your local used bookstore for anything by Ray Bradbury--they sell the same day the come in, and rightfully so. I still have my paperbacks I read as a kid. Even though my writing style is nothing like his, no other writer has influenced me more than Ray Bradbury.

This may sound like the beginning of an obituary filled with praise and glowing words for this master craftsman of the written word. And I had considered writing an essay explaining Ray's disdain of books and the internet.

But alas, it is not to be. For even if I could dig up any words from the hollow pit in my belly, they wouldn't do him justice.

My only solace is I know we will speak again soon, the next time I open any of his works.

“And when he died, I suddenly realized I wasn’t crying for him at all, but for the things he did. I cried because he would never do them again...”
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

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.

Reviews, Reviews, Reviews!

I've owe an apology to the reviewers who've recently taken the time to read and review Super Zombie Juice Mega Bomb. I've been putting together a Middle Grade anthology while also finishing up my latest manuscript. So, I'm a little behind on posting these great reviews:

First up, My Life on Mars posted a review of the Graphic Novel version for SZJMB, saying, "MJA Ware tells a fun story that any kid would enjoy..."

Unlike the first blog, Susan Reviews does leave star ratings and gave SZJMB five of them saying, "A humorous tale of friendship complicated by growing up, zombie invasion and lemonade."

While the blog, A Room With Books doesn't give star ratings, it did rate SZJMB as a "Hit." In a pretty in depth review, where she recommends it for Middle Grade readers.

Last, but not least, Azure Dwarf also gave SZJMB 5-stars. Azure Dwarf writes and reviews mostly kidlit, especially boy stuff, so it was great when he said, "This is an excellent addition to the YA genre."

A lot of readers have been leaving Amazon and LibraryThing reviews recently and I just wanted to say how much these help; without them no one would find my books, let alone take a chance on them.

THANK YOU REVIEWERS, YOU ROCK!!!

Opening Day!!! - And Some Updates

Well, it's finally here, Opening Day 2012. I for one am taking off work early to watch the Giants beat the Daimondbacks.

I'll go even further than that and predict that the Giants have what it take to get to the World Series this year.

!!GO GIANTS!!

In other news, I've been writing quite a bit recently. I have some shorts that I'm going to finish and put out soon.

I'm almost finished with the first draft of a Chapter Book I've tentatively titled: Zack and Zoey's Alien Apocalypse. It needs quite a bit of polishing, but I'm going to try to have it out by the end of the month. And even though it's a Chapter Book, I think fans of Super Zombie Juice will enjoy it.

Speaking of Super Zombie Juice, I'm about 20% done with book two. Looks like it's going to be at least a bit longer than book one. I'm hoping each book gets a little longer than its predecessor. I've mapped out the kids adventures right to the end; but I'm not sure how many books it work will out to (seems like when I start writing, things always go in a different direction than I plan). It's looking like five titles total for the series, could be 4-6.

I know a few readers have asked, when the heck am I going to finish Girls Bite (my YA paranormal). Well, it's going through another major revision. I know I've been predicting this one since December, but it's just not ready. It's the first of a series, and I really want to get it right. I love Paranormal Romances, but only when they are done right--and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure mine is done right.

On the plus side, it's grown from what was suppose to be an intro novella to almost novel length (45-50k); still short for a YA paranormal, but the right length to tell the opening of this story.

If you enjoy reading my work, please consider signing up for my newsletter. I promise to never send out more than six e-mails a year (haven't sent one at all this year). I only use it when I have big news, like a new

release. In fact, that's why I'm suggesting you sign up; because the newsletter readers are my BEST readers and until further notice get a free (e)copy of all my books. I hope one day, the list will grow to the point where I can't do that anymore, but if that happens, it's going to be a while and I'll still treat these readers like royalty.

One last thing. I really like doing Happy Release Day posts and they do get a little bit of traffic. I know a lot of other authors read the blog, so shoot me a note when you release a book and I'll post a link to just about any genre that's kid friendly (ie no erotica or really hardcore, slasher-type horror--but light romance is fine).

I hope everyone gets to leave work early to watch their favorite team play today!