Home Articles posted by Erin Zarro (Page 6)

The Best of Turtleduck Press, Volume II

In celebration of our tenth anniversary, Turtleduck Press has selected the best of our short fiction from the last six years for your reading pleasure. Each author has two stories included, one voted as their best by the members of TDP, and the one they consider their best work personally. Stories included in this collection:Changeling, Erin ZarroBaking Lessons, KD SargeThe Haunting of Heatherbrae Station, Siri Paulson1-800-HAUNTME, Kit CampbellWarped, Erin ZarroCrazy Boy, KD SargeStill Waters, Siri PaulsonDeserts and Domes, Kit Campbell Get your copy here.

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Get Your Giant Insects On?

So, in my unofficial continuing “fluff” series of posts, I am going to talk about giant insects. <laughs> That’s one way to start this with a bang, huh? Giant insects? What the hell? Well, you see, a few weeks ago on a Sunday, my mom was watching a movie called Empire of the Ants. (Warning: Wikipedia page ahead). It was one of my rare days off, I literally had nothing to do, and I was curious. For the uninitiated, it’s about these scammers trying to sell a crap house and property to a bunch of people and a bunch of giant ants attack them. These are ants mutated by radioactive waste (how original) and they are vicious! At one point, they are stuck on an island with them! Scary! For a film made in 1977, it’s not horrible, but damn, the special effects are cheesy. I mean, no CGI, and it’s painfully obvious that the ants are fake. The gory scenes aren’t bad (and yes, these ants tear the poor people up. It’s insane). There were mind control elements, which surprised me: the queen ant would spray the people with a mist that made them compliant. I guess the other people on the island were in on it? The dialogue is pretty stilted, too. But it was entertaining, and we talked about the cheesiness, and I guess that’s the point? Second up was last weekend’s film, The Deadly Mantis. (Obligatory Wikipedia warning). I laughed at this one through most of…

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Get Your Fluff On

In the past month or so, I’ve been working very hard not to get depressed, or panicked, or preoccupied with COVID-19 stuff. I figure…it’s everywhere, so why don’t I carve out a mental space where it isn’t? So, like last month, I’ve been doing Fluff. What is Fluff, you ask? Fluff is exactly what it sounds like. Fun stuff. Goofy stuff. Funny stuff. The mental equivalent of jello and popcorn. One rule: It can’t be SERIOUS. And God forbid, no pandemic! (Only exception: Pandemic parodies, because, well, they’re parodies. That’s fun and funny, right?) So here’s my list ‘o Fluff: Bachelor: Listen to Your Heart miniseries – Okay, okay, okay. I’d never dream of watching this any other time, but combining music, romance, and drama together? Sign me up! That’s like the definition of Fluff right there. And, oddly enough, I’ve actually been enjoying it. (I think we’re in an alternate universe somewhere). Romantic comedy novels – I do read these anyway, but I’ve been trying to read more right now. I’m about to start a boxed set about three friends who make a marriage pact only to be thwarted by a fortune teller who predicts that their weddings will be disasters. Sounds fun! It’s called The Wedding Pact Box Set by Denise Grover Swank And, in a similar vein, I am plotting my own romantic comedy novel. So take that, pandemic! Chantix Turkey commercials – Okay, this is more my hubby and me, but what the hell, might as…

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Too Serious, Let’s Have Fun

So, things have gotten Real. Everything’s shut down, people are worried about not having toilet paper, no one’s going anywhere…it’s the apocalypse! (Whelp, I spelled that wrong, booo.) I’m sure someday we’ll all have a chuckle about this, but right now, being in the thick of things…not so much. I’ve been anxious every day. I imagine you all are too, or in some form of emotional distress. So I’ve decided to quit with the seriousness and go for the fun. Today is St. Patrick’s Day. If I drank, I’d definitely pour myself a glass of Bailey’s Irish Cream and sing an Irish Drinking song or two. In case you hate Who Line is it Anyway, here are some pretty and cute pictures I got off Pixabay to hopefully calm your distress. Also, some friends and I got together and put together a little book fair thing for solidarity during this trying time — all books are FREE. This is going on till 3/20, so grab those books while you can! BIG HONKING LINK HERE BECAUSE I CAN’T DOWNLOAD THE IMAGE FILE LOL So how does that make you feel? Hopefully better! Now prepare some comfort foods, grab some wine (or soda if you don’t drink), and enjoy the company of your favorite humans. And non-humans. Cats, dogs, hamsters…you get the idea. 😉 And when you’re done eating and drinking and making merry, cuddle your beloveds close. We’re going to get through this.

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The Spell and the Burn

a free sci-fi short story by Erin Zarro This was the place.                 The school had stood here once, many years ago. The imprint of my trauma still lingered; I felt it in the wind.                 The Book had said to find a place with resonance. A place where the path of my life had completely changed.                 I took a breath, let it out. I didn’t want to remember, but for this to work, I had to face the memories.                 Afterward, my life hadn’t been horrible. I’d gone to college and had become a nurse. I had had a job at a prestigious medical center.                 I’d retired from there. My co-workers had thrown a huge retirement party for me. I’d gone home. I’d felt amazing. I’d done good in this world. I’d never married, but that had never bothered me.                 Until I’d found the Book.                 If I hadn’t been traumatized, hospitalized, and shunned by my peers …maybe someone would have loved me. I’d always felt wrong in my skin, completely unlovable.                 And then…                 I’d found the Book, and my life was about to change once again.                 Yes, this is the place where I’d do the ritual.                 I set the bag I’d bought on the grass and rummaged through it for my supplies. Salt for the magical circle. A pentagram necklace. A ceremonial blade.  Candles.                 The sun was setting, and the sky became alive with multicolored hues and golden light. I…

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Diving into the world of planners

It’s happened. I’ve been hit by the planner bug. For the past three years or so, my mom has always given me a simple planner for Christmas. I use it to track appointments and my daily to-do lists. I use it as a modified bullet journal, except without the bullets. But the idea is the same. I list what I’d like to accomplish and mark them off when I do. If I don’t, those tasks move to the next day. I also track wordcounts as well. And I do love that planner. It’s simple, easy, and I can jot stuff down and get to work. All three have been Bloom Planners, so I never have to figure out a new way to do things. However, a few days after Christmas, my mom told me that she’s actually bought me a different planner. Unfortunately, there was an issue with it closing once in a while, so she decided to not give it to me. She showed it to me anyway, and said I could still have it if I wanted it. And it’s a bit different than the Bloom Planner. So I thought about stuff for a bit and came up with the idea to use it as a Tracker. I had a bunch of things I wanted to track: wordcounts (yeah, I know it’s a duplicate, but I liked the idea of having them there, too) bedtimes (because I am still working on my schedule), food (because I am dieting…

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Looking Ahead and Behind

So, it’s 2020. A new year. A new decade. Let’s see what I was doing in 2010: ~I launched Turtleduck Press with Siri Paulson, KD Sarge, and Kit Campbell. With that launch, I published my first poetry chapbook, Life as a Moving Target. It was my first publication, apart from poetry in literary magazines, ever. ~I had entered into my nth draft of Pirouette (now titled Death Dancer), hoping that this time it will be ready for a literary agent. This is before self publishing took over, and I ended up setting it aside on the advice of my writer friends who felt I was too wrapped up in revisions. I ended up writing Fey Touched instead (and published that in 2012).~I started writing an odd, supernatural thriller thing that to this day is still waiting to be finished. I’m close. It is important because of how the idea came to me, and how the story has warped and changed over time. It is also a new genre that’s a bit out of my comfort zone, but that’s a good thing.~I had been married for one year, yay! And we’re still going strong. ~I had three foot surgeries, the most recent this past March. I am hoping that’s the end of ALL surgeries for awhile. So, pretty major stuff going on. In the decade, I’d release another poetry chapbook, four novels, a novelette, a flash fiction collection, and a nonfiction book. Unfortunately, none of it is Pirouette or the supernatural…

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I am a horrible boss

This year has been crazy for me. I had surgery on my right foot in March and then had months of rehab. I started having severely painful headaches and discovered that I had a pinched nerve in my neck, and by the way, I have several herniated discs in my neck as well. I’ve expanded my freelance business again. I’ve been trying to stay organized and efficient through all of this, and I think I might have succeeded except…my writing had to be put aside. I didn’t take this decision lightly. Anyone who’s known me for awhile knows that I usually write every day. I am always trying to reach a goal — a completed novel draft, complete a revision of a novel, or maybe an edit — and I work like hell to make it. I’ve always been this way. One of my main goals for the future was to publish at least one book a year, maybe even two if I could manage it. This was before my health got dicey again and I had a lot less time and energy to devote to it. I did start transitioning to dictation again, mostly to speed up the process, and I’m still working out the kinks. I had a deadline for Reaper Girl #3, The Vanishing. January 1st. Which would have been doable…had I had time to finish the draft and revise. I need at least three weeks minimum and that’s pushing it. My drafts change significantly in revision,…

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Thankfulness

Every year around Thanksgiving, I write my post on thankfulness. I’ve been doing this for years: 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 I skipped, 2013, and 2012. You’d think I’d run out of things to be thankful for. Not so. On the thirteenth anniversary of the day my husband and I met, he was in a head-on collision. He was at work, making deliveries in Ohio when a driver fell asleep at the wheel and hit him. The airbags deployed, and I’m positive that they saved his life. Much how my sister’s did when she was involved in an accident several years ago. He called me around the usual time he checked with me — lunchtime — and I had every reason to believe that it was business as usual. When he told me he’d had an accident, I was stunned. He was talking to me on the phone, yet shaken up, so it couldn’t have been that bad. But still — the writer/researcher/worrier in me freaked out. Head injuries. Whiplash. Messed up knees (which actually happened to me two weeks after I started going to college. I had tendonitis in both knees for a very long time). Anything could be wrong and not obvious. But he was talking to me, which meant his brain was okay. He didn’t break any bones. No whiplash. You have no idea how relieved I was. We were supposed to go out to dinner for our anniversary. First, we made a trip to urgent care per…

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The Language Geek Gets Her Latin On

Yep. I’ve added another language. Backing up a bit, I started with Esperanto again, and I am really enjoying it. Getting pretty far on the Duolingo tree. It’s awesome. Many years ago, back when I was constructing a language for one of my novels, Requiem in Blue, I studied Latin a bit as a jumping off point. The language, by the way, is called Reka (R-ee-kah). I still want to get back to it someday. So I’ve always wanted to learn Latin. But Duo didn’t have it…until very recently. So I jumped aboard that train. The trip so far has been really interesting. And a bit challenging. I’m not sure if I’ve reached my limit on learning languages simultaneously, or maybe it’s because I can’t study it every day like I used to because job and life, but it hasn’t been easy. And that’s a bit disconcerting. I mean…I used to be able to pick languages up so easily. French was easy, and Esperanto, for the most part—so far, anyway. Here are some thoughts: 1 The lack of pronouns is just plain weirding me out. Yeah. You can actually drop the pronoun and still have a comprehensible sentence. It’s wild. I always want to add the pronoun because that’s what I am used to. And I’m an editor and a stickler for proper grammar so…yeah. Cue the nervous twitches. 2 The sentence order freaks me out, too. So you can say something like “Erin my name is” and, you guessed…

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