Zombie Time with Debut Author Manda Collins Back to Blog
Update: The winner of the copy of ANGEL OF DARKNESS & and the cover flat of HOW TO DANCE WITH A DUKE is…JessS! And the $10 gift card winner is…Stephenia! Congrats!
My next guest is historical debut author Manda Collins. In February, Manda’s book, HOW TO DANCE WITH A DUKE will be on store shelves. But, for now, she’s here to talk zombie. (Gift card giveaway alert! Read on to find out more…)
Zombies, Triangles and Creeps, Oh My!
Confession time! I am not a zombie kind of girl. Or a post apocalyptic aficionado. Or fan of sci-fi in general. So I pretty much steered clear of The Walking Dead, the latest television craze from AMC, from the moment I heard about it.
It’s not that I don’t like seeing bad guys vanquished. I think that my love of romantic suspense and paranormal romance shows that. But I am no a big fan of blood and guts. And to me, zombies are just…sad. And gross. Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Sad and gross.
However, I live with my sister. And from time to time, as most siblings do, we try to watch television together. And as sometimes happens, I get to watch what I want, and she gets to watch what she wants. Guess who is a big old fan of The Walking Dead? Yeah, my sister. Who loves zombies, and blood and guts, and gore and every kind of story that involves the end of the world. I get to watch Downton Abbey, and she gets to watch The Walking Dead. It’s just how things work out sometimes.
So, much to my surprise, I found myself watching this season’s episodes that followed the saga of Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), Shane (Jon Bernthal), and the rest of the zombie-killing crew, and actually getting hooked as they searched for the missing little girl, Amy and set up uneasy camp on a farm with Hershel (Scott Wilson). Sure there were the obligatory gross-out zombie killing shots, such as the one where they sent poor Glenn (Stephen Yeun) into the well to get a walker (a walker is what they call mobile zombies, as far as I can tell). And there were some deaths of characters I’d grown to love. But there was also something that I am always drawn to, no matter how much gore they throw my way, and that’s storytelling.
Despite the horror movie elements, watching these people struggle to understand what their world has become is fascinating. The continuing tension and drama in the Rick, Lori, Shane love triangle is the stuff great soap operas are made of. Seeing Shane’s perfidy slowly revealed, as he shows again and again just how far he’s willing to go to get what he wants is terrifying in the best sense of the world. I find myself shouting at the television screen, warning Rick to stop trusting him. And I haven’t done that for a good long while.
And of course I am totally shipping for Glenn and Maggie, though I know how these zombie shows often end. Or I’ve been told.
I never thought I’d be saying this, but I might even like these zombie, post apocalyptic tropes now. Would I choose zombies over costume drama? Uh, probably not. A girl has to have her priorities;) But I am dying for the mid-season premiere of The Walking Dead in February. And that’s a far cry from my arrogant dismissal of all zombie shows as gross a few months ago.
Just don’t tell my sister, okay? I’ve still got my pride!
Are there any shows or books or genres that you were reluctant to try that you now love? I’d love to hear them!
Share your favorite shows with Manda, and you could win a $10 Amazon.com gift card! One commenter will be selected randomly to win. And in addition to the gift card, Manda is giving away a signed HOW TO DANCE WITH A DUKE cover flat & an ANGEL OF DARKNESS copy. Good luck!
I watch a lot of tv.my favorites are Vampire Diaries,secret Circle,NCIS,The Big Bang Theory,Once Upon A Time,Glee,2 Broke Girls.
My favorite shows are Criminal Minds, Mike & Molly, Hawaii Five 0 & Revenge. Never miss those shows.
I love The Walking Dead! Other favorites are Glee, Big Bang Theory and Castle.
I love Supernatural, The Mentalist, True Blood, Bones and House.
Ohhh I love have been into cooking shows and HGTV lately. I really love House Hunters International 😀
I’ve been watching and loving PanAm, Revenge, and Storybrook.
yadkny@hotmail.com
TV shows? Well…
I’m very much behind the times, as I don’t watch TV (no cable, no digital converter and no new TV for a while yet)
However, I’ve been able to catch some of the newer stuff online. This summer I got hooked on Alphas. I originally looked it up because the actor who plays Gary was my favorite squintern in Bones (another show I follow) but grew to enjoy the characters and their dynamic quite a lot.
Overall, though, I don’t tend to like drawn out series, because I find that characters often get re-written into parodies of themselves in order to follow a perceived trend or to meet the demands of the plot, rather than being allowed to evolve naturally. Mini-series or movies, on the other hand, I enjoy wholeheartedly.
*ahem*
And to actually answer the question (sorry!), yes, definitely: I don’t do horror.
Suspense? Definitely! Straight horror? Sorry, nope. Don’t quite see the point.
True Blood! I always make sure to keep up on those… As for the rest, I like to read so I do not watch much TV… Unless you count what my kids watch lol
Supernatural, Criminal Minds and Bones is what I have been watching but I recently got into the vampire diaries and smallville
meandi09@yahoo.com
My favorite shows are True Blood, Game of Thrones, and American Horror Story. I’ve heard great things about The Walking Dead but I’m not a fan of zombies. Thanks for the giveaway.
Okay I know it is over but I love Ghost Whisperer and as for current shows I love House and Spartacus. 🙂
Favorite shows are: Castle, Hawaii Five-O, Glee, Bones, Chuck, NCIS, Revenge, Desperate Housewives, Gray Anatomy, Modern Family. I know there more, am TV addictive 😉
I love Navy CIS LA, Hawai Five 0 and Criminal Minds
I love the Big Bang Theory, Castle, Hawaii Five-0, NCIS and The Mentalist.
I love the Big Bang Theory, Greys anatomy, The office, The secret circle, Once upon a time, and The vampire diaries. 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway
My favorite show is Bones but I also love My Family, and NCIS. shows I have to watch every week or tape if i’m not home to catch are Bones and NCIS.
Thanks for the giveaway.
This is the second post this week thet has mentioned the Walking Dead. I watched a few episodes of the first season and it bored me. Maybe I needed to watch a few more (then again, all the great reviews for The Office and I absolutely hate it).
The Big Bang Theory always makes me laugh (and mildly embarasses me that I get so many of the nerd and scifi references), I still look forward to Supernatural and Mystery on PBS. None of the new shows are a real hit with me.
I don’t watch a lot of television. I would rather read. I do watch a couple of shows. I love True Blood on HBO. I also love Sons of Anarchy on FX, the season finale is next week. I do also watch a couple of reality shows like Storage Wars, Pawn Stars, and Jersey Shore. I hate to admit the last, but very addicting show. This book sounds great. I love historical romances, and How to Dance with a Duke sounds great.
My mom loves the Walking Dead and told me I need to check it out, I did. Watched the first episode and it freaked me out so I never went back LOL Me and zombies don’t go well together. I love Hung, True Blood, Castle and Jersey Shore. LOL It’s a guilty pleasure 🙂
I have to admit that I don’t watch TV much because I’d usually rather be reading. However, I’ve always been hooked on The Amazing Race. Aside from books, my other love is to travel and so I love watching the various places that the contestants go to.