They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with J.D. Blackrose, whose latest Zombie Cosmetologist novella, Hide & Chic, was released on June 11th from Falstaff Books!
What does J.D. love when she’s not writing about a zombie cosmetologist to the Hollywood stars? Spoiler alert: a show that brings back the original magic, the best gift ever, a new way of conventioning, a great new superhero series that even Seanan McGuire loves, and a completely shameless plug of a cozy zombie mystery. Interested? Read on to learn more!
I attended an Egyptian Coptic wedding a couple of years ago and one of my most favorite things were the dresses and jewels worn by the family members. Over. The. Top. These women were the descendants of Cleopatra and owned it. I wore a simple outfit suitable, I thought, for an afternoon affair, but boy, was I white-bread wrong. I mean, tiaras, people!
So, when thinking about my current favorite things I needed to let the thought percolate. Let the imagination steep, if you don’t mind me mixing my hot drinks. Rather than choose the obvious, biggest, fattest marshmallows for my cocoa of life, I wanted to look for the weirdly shaped ones that make life interesting. There, I’ve used up my drink-in-mugs metaphor to the fullest.
For your consideration, I submit the following:
My Favorite TV Show
The Mandalorian. This show changed my feelings about the Star Wars universe. I’d grown bored of Star Wars, which may make me a heathen but there it is. The best movie was the first (Episode IV) because not only did it set the standard for any movie thereafter, but I waited in line to see it in the theater with my father, and we both cried when R2D2 got shot. Nothing can replace that memory, that experience, and everything after pales. But The Mandalorian changed all of that. Jon Favreau, who is a genius (fight me), created a hero without a face and we still thought he was sexy. Why? Because he proved how archetypes work. Look at the titles of the episodes. “The Gunslinger.” “The Child.” He had eight tight episodes to create an entirely new mythos, and I hung on every single word. “This is the Way,” and “I have spoken,” dominated social media. Granted, he had an entire established universe to work with, so he could use a lot of shorthand. For example, we knew how bounty hunters work in Star Wars, but he still created something original.
My Favorite Book Set
My daughter’s Harry Potter book set comes in the most amazing case. The case looks like Newt Scamander’s trunk. My one disappointment is that it doesn’t play the Harry Potter theme song when you open it, like a music box. My brother bought it for her, instantaneously becoming the coolest person on the planet, and sometimes she and I just like to open it and reveal the full set inside. He bought it for her after her dorm room flooded from above when her upstairs neighbor’s electric scooter shorted out and the fire alarm caused the sprinklers to open. The dirty water soaked her belongings and destroyed her carefully collated collection of Harry Potter books. They weren’t the perfect collection. They weren’t first editions, or pristine copies, but they were the hardbacks she’d put together herself from saved allowances, babysitting money, and birthday checks. She’d bought each and every one on her own, and the loss was a gut check. The replacement needed to be something special, and her uncle nailed it on the head.
My Favorite Con
I’m really enjoying the newly created Con-Tinual Facebook Group. This group is designed to be an ongoing SF&F (and paranormal, horror, romance…a bit of everything) convention. Check it out. Search by hashtags and look for panels that were just held by ConCarolinas. You might even see me in a couple talking about networking and digital marketing. There are also ones featuring individual authors, upcoming releases, filking, film, building a world bible (I’m in that one), the TV show Supernatural, and more. This is going to be a must-watch as the face of conventions change with COVID-19, so check it out and keep an eye on it.
My Favorite New Series
If you haven’t picked up Patrick Dugan’s The Darkest Storm series, you really should. In fact, Seanan McGuire just tweeted about how good it is. Storm Forged is the first book. It is blurbed as X-Men meets The Hunger Games but I think of it as X-Men meets The Running Man, but that may be because I loved Richard Dawson as Damon Killian, and I’m older than the average bear. Start with the first one, Storm Forged. The third one just came out.
My Favorite ME Thing
In the meantime, may I humbly also suggest you read my Zombie Cosmetologist novella series. The first one, Pluck & Cover, came out in March, and the second one, Hide & Chic (perfect for this blog!) was released on June 11th. Waylon Jenkins is a zombie, and a cosmetologist to the biggest and best Hollywood stars. He gets dragged into a murder investigation when bodies start showing up with limbs missing and the local police captain thinks he’s the perpetrator. I mean, who else needs the spare parts?
It’s a crazy zombie cozy mystery with heart, and the four novellas in the series will build on each other. All published by Falstaff Books.
J.D. Blackrose loves all things storytelling and celebrates great writing by posting about it on her website, www.slipperywords.com. She has published multiple series through Falstaff Books, as well as numerous short stories. Her story, The Ghost Train, was published in Third Flatiron’s Best of 2019 Anthology. She spends a lot of time chatting with the imaginary people in her head and is often accused of having a hearing problem. As a survival tactic, she has mastered the art of looking interested. She credits her parents for teaching her to ask questions, and in lieu of facts, how to make up answers.
Author Photo by Michele Schneider
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