Tuesday, April 30, 2013

THE BEAST WITHIN ...

Zane kicks a rock into oncoming traffic on his way home from school. A car skids and the brakes screech, but Zane's head remains slumped, as dark bangs fall into his eyes and mingle with a single tear.

 He drags his feet up the front porch steps and his mother greets him at the door. 

“Happy Birthday, honey. Go wash up, dinner will be ready soon. I made your favorite, mac and cheese.”

“Mom, there’s nothing happy about this day. Remember we buried Buster this morning?”

She swallows a golfball sized lump. “I know, but tomorrow’s Saturday and you’ll have a wonderful surprise.”

“Yeah, whatever.” All I want is another dog ... a dude’s dog.


*     *     *    *     *

Zane buries his head under the pillow as sunlight streams through the bedroom window. Snarls and the sound of ripped fabric filter through his covered ears.

“What the ...” he murmurs and lifts the pillow, covering his nose. “Gross! It smells like something died in here.” Nails scratch into the hardwood under the bed and the growls and shredding noises continue.

Holding his breath, he peers over the edge and sees a scraggly, wagging tail on the butt of a little mangy mutt. “No, she didn’t ... not this,” he says through gritted teeth. “MOM!”

The door flings open. “SURPRISE! Isn’t fluffy the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?”

“No ... It’s ugly, smelly, and looks as if he’d bite anything.”

Her face flushes. “Oh, well, yes. They did say he has that problem, but with a bit of love and affection, I’m sure he’ll outgrow it.”

“He bites! Great ...”

She pulls out a leash from behind her back and hands it to him. “Why don’t you take fluffy for a walk and start to bond with him. He’s your dog now.”

Zane watches as fluffy tears apart his favorite trainer. “Yeah, right. Bond with that ...” He points at the dog as he rips apart the other one.




Time passes and Fluffy seems to enjoy his new home and the taste of Zane’s neighbors and friends. Bite-after-bite, he even licks his chops.


But what happens to them? Suddenly they start asking Zane for brains ...


MY ZOMBIE DOG by Charmaine Clancy



Will Zane be able to keep his dog from infecting the whole neighborhood? Or will it be too late to stop the plague that has erupted?


Amazon: Link

Facebook: Link

Now this in one story I can really SINK my teeth into. LOL.. BAD PUN, I know, but I HAD to say it. All kidding aside this story sounds like a ton of fun. Both kids and adults will love this. I know I can’t wait to read it.

Charmaine hails from down under, so I’m sure we will get some fun Aussie wit, in this tale. Please drop by her blog and say hi to her. I met her through the Romantic Friday Writers, and believe me she has an awesome sense of humor.

WEll EVERYONE ... This is the FINAL Book. My intro challenge is COMPLETE. I hope you all enjoyed the variety of authors I have featured and THANK YOU ALL for your support of your fellow blogger/authors. I know they appreciate your buying their books. Spread the word about your favorites. I know I have been BLAMED by many that because of my intros their TBR lists are endless. One went so far as to say she was going to charge me. LOL, PLEASE, it’s costing me too. 

Anyway, you have ALL been amazing and your comments have meant so much to me. I hope you can find time to drop by for my reflections post. Take care everyone and I will see you tomorrow? Can you believe the IWSG is TOMORROW? I don’t even get a day off! GEEZ, ALEX, YOU are relentless!  LOL.

Sending out a HUGE HUG to all of you! I couldn’t have done it without YOU!

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats on completing the challenge and hope your birthday was one to remember,
Great post.

Yvonne.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Wondered what you would do for Z, but as soon as I read 'buried Buster,' I knew it was Charmaine's My Zombie Dog!
Your introductions have been outstanding, Michael. And you kept ahead the whole time.
Yes, I'm relentless! No rest for the wicked. IWSG on Wednesday. Then you can collapse on Thursday.

Sally said...

Loved your theme and thank you for introducing me to books and their authors I hadn't considered before. See you in May for RFW.

Natalie Aguirre said...

Congrats on finishing. Loved your very creative posts.

S.P. Bowers said...

Congrats on a great month! Thanks for all the reviews.

Unknown said...

It was so generous of you to introduce us to so many amazing books! Thank you.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

A zombie dog - LOL! Your intros have been wonderful, Michael.

mooderino said...

Great posts for this year's challenge, and great choice to end it with.

mood

Jessica Schley said...

Sounds like an awesome book. I think I'll be nabbing this one for my nieces--they'd love it!

Great A-Z theme. What an awesome gift you gave all these writers to recommend their books!

Roland D. Yeomans said...

Now, that's a dog for Victor Standish! Wheeee! We made it through the challenge. I hope your birthday was great, Roland

mshatch said...

Ha! This does sound like a fun book and you have done a fabulous job with this challenge. Personally, I think you deserve an award of some kind :)

mr seckman said...

Excellent! I need this book for my kids.

Michelle Wallace said...

Congratulations! Actually double-congrats for your b-day yesterday (hope you had a good one), and for completing the challenge.
Charmaine's book sounds like fun!
I really enjoyed your theme and I discovered some awesome new books...

Writer In Transit

Morgan said...

Brilliant! You've got to be soooooo exhausted after completing this challenge! You've done a ridiculously amazing job, Michael!

And I'm so glad your birthday was fun yesterday. I hope you felt loved by everyone!!! Now time to collapse and take a break! :D

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

You did such an amazing job with A to Z. You spent so much time being creative and generously promoted books. I thank you for my 'K' day and look forward to returning the favor.

shelly said...

Believe it or not, I've got the book waiting on my Kindle to be read. I love zombies and fur peeps.

Hugs and chocolate,
Shelly

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Michael .. Charmaine's book sounds great fun and I can quite see I'd enjoy a good read of it .. let alone the kids ..

As you say - can I send my invoice??! Such a lovely way to do the A - Z for all the authors you've highlighted .. and I know I'll enjoy their books ..

Cheers Hilary

cleemckenzie said...

And what a great way to wrap up this 2013 AtoZ Challenge!

Congrats for a job well done.

Donea Lee said...

Ah, looks like I'm catching all the fun at the "tail" end ~ :)I'll have to go back and check out the other books you've intro'ed. Also, caught your interview on DPK's blog - so awesome! It's been awhile - hope you've been doing fabulously!!

How's the querying going? :)

Carol Kilgore said...

Hugs back, Michael. Your intros were absolutely awesome.

Charmaine's book sounds great, too.

nutschell said...

congrats on finishing the A-Z! I hope you had the happiest of birthdays too:)
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com

Julie Flanders said...

Oh how fun, I definitely want to read this one.

You've outdone yourself with your intros for this month, Michael. Great work! :)

Laura Eno said...

hah! A zombie dog...
Congrats on finishing a wonderfully unique and helping-others-out way of doing the A to Z!

VR Barkowski said...

Charmaine's book sounds like so much fun and that cover is A-DOR-A-BLE.

Congrats on finishing the A to Z with flying colors, Michael. Superlative job all the way through! A pleasure.

VR Barkowski

Kristen said...

I'm definitely getting this. I saw it mentioned on another blog too. :) Congrats on finishing the challenge!

#atozchallenge, Kristen's blog: kristenhead.blogspot.com

Denise Covey said...

Michael, you've done Charmaine's book proud. I've got it and read it with my junior students who LOVE it. A very professionally-edited e-book too, which is awesome these days!

You have been so awesome too Michael. What a LOT of work you've put into these posts for I'm sure very grateful authors. I'm sure it will result in added interest and more sales.

Now you go off and enjoy a break!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Enjoy your celebrations.

Denise

Charmaine Clancy said...

Michael you have been absolutely brilliant in this A-Z challenge! You deserve a holiday! And IWSG - OMG I almost forgot (again)! Will have to rush up my post tonight.

Thank you so much for highlighting my book for Z Michael, I'm so humbled to be amongst some awesome publications. Lots of Aussie love for you and your followers! Wonderful comments! xxx

Charmaine Clancy said...

And Happy Birthday!! (meant to say that, but pressed send too soon) - Mine was just the other day, so another Taurus.

Card and dead dog in the post. x

Tammy Theriault said...

this books sounds so fun to read!! i love love love the idea of like frankenweenie type book!! my kids would enjoy this one!

Rosalind Adam said...

Hope you had a great birthday and congrats on completing!!

Unknown said...

Oh my God!! I have got to read this. It sounds wonderfully macabre, yet somehow warm and well, fluffy. LOL The juxtaposition is fantastic.