Today I am so pleased to welcome T. Strange to Joyfully Jay. T has come to talk to us about her latest release, My Zombie Fiancé (The Undead Canadian series). She has also brought along an excerpt and a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

Edward Grey, the protagonist of the Undead Canadian series, is a medical student/necromancer, and his family isn’t exactly normal. Neither is mine.

People who know me offline are usually surprised to find out that I write about zombies. I’ve heard something along the lines of, “I didn’t think you were a zombie person,” more than once. And they’re, gasp, right. As a rule, I’m not into the zombie genre. I’ve never seen an episode of The Walking Dead. I don’t watch zombie movies, though I am a huge horror movie fan, especially creature features.

That being said, the Undead Canadian series’ zombies are a little different—rather than a virus that turns all dead/infected people into the undead, the zombies in My Zombie Boyfriend and My Zombie Fiancé are raised, on purpose, by necromancers. Most of them are of the more-or-less mindless, shambling variety, but (with a few exceptions, just to keep things interesting) they’re under the control of the necromancer who raised them.

While I’m not a zombiephile, I do have a reputation for being slightly morbid. If the sequence of events in my life had gone slightly differently, I’d probably be an embalmer right now (though I like to think I’d still be writing, too). I love Kathy Reichs’ books (Bones, not so much…) and reading about the real-life body farm.

I come by my morbidity honestly. My grandfather is part of a local organization to educate people about funeral options and ways to lower the cost of funerals. For the last decade or so, my grandparents have had a system—if you want something after they die, you let them know, and they put a sticky note on the back with your name on it.

I only know one set of grandparents, so this has always seemed pretty normal to me, but most people I mention the system to find it a little disturbing. (Incidentally, my grandparents have already given me the two items I asked for—a brass unicorn and a Fabergé perfume…flower cart…thingy…)

Does your family have any strange, morbid traditions? I’d love to hear about ‘em!

Excerpt

After dinner, my mother wanted to show Kit her newest historical medical instruments, so I helped my father clean up.

“Something on your mind, kiddo?”

I jerked, guiltily, almost dropping the dish I was holding. Somehow, he always knew when I was upset. I was terrible at reading people’s faces, so it always surprised me when someone could read mine. “Me? No. Nothing. Did Kit say something?”

My dad rinsed another dish, then handed it to me to load in the dishwasher. He didn’t say anything, and he didn’t need to. He knows me too well.

“All right! I give up. What if…I knew something about you, and I don’t know if it’s something you’d want to know?”

“Well, at least you aren’t saying ‘your friend’ has a problem. Is it a big something?”

I nodded.

“Is it going to bother you if you don’t tell me?”

“Kind of. Yeah. Sorry?”

He smiled. “Then you’d better go ahead and tell me. I’m your father, Edward. I want to support you all the time, not just when it’s easy or convenient. If it’s something you need to get off your chest, I’ll listen.”

“Here? Now?”

“I don’t think we’ll be interrupted for a while.”

I could hear my mother in the living room, talking much faster and louder than usual, telling Kit about a fleam. Her collection is one of my mother’s few indulgences, and she gets quite passionate about it.

“True.” When my mom’s excited about something, there’s no escaping for at least half an hour. “Okay. I saw a ghost last week.”

“Haven’t you seen lots of them?”

I laughed. “You’d think so. But no, I haven’t. He—the ghost—told me that Mariel’s been protecting me. She’s in Haiti right now, which is apparently how he was able to get through.”

“Did the ghost tell you something?”

“Yeah. A lot of things, and I’m still trying to figure most of them out. But…he said he’s your father.”

My dad grabbed my arm. “Grandpa Pat? You saw grandpa Pat’s ghost?”

He looked so hopeful, I almost said yes. “No. This was…someone else. His name was Albert Johnsson.”

My father looked at me, sharply. Very carefully and deliberately, he set down the dish he’d been rinsing, giving me his full attention. “Do you believe him?”

I thought for a moment. “Yes, I do. Unfortunately.”

“Oh? Why unfortunately?”

“He taught me a lot, but…I didn’t like him very much.”

“Thanks for telling me, Edward.” He hugged me.

His hands were still damp from the dishes, and they left little wet spots on my shirt, but I didn’t mind.

“Really?”

“Really. This means…I have a lot to think about, and I’m sure I’ll have more questions for you later. Once I can figure out… Well, I’m glad he was useful, if nothing else.”

We stood there a moment, listening to my mother describe the finer points of bloodletting in nineteenth century France. We shared a quiet smile, and it struck me that I would look very much like him in a few decades.

Blurb

Edward Grey is no stranger to the undead; since raising his cat as a zombie when he was a child, he and his mentor Mariel have explored and developed his power as a necromancer. Despite everything he’s learned, as a necromancer and a medical student, he’s never encountered a ghost.

While Mariel is unreachable in Haiti on mysterious business, a ghost wakes Edward in the middle of the night, claiming to be his grandfather. When the ghost offers to teach him about this different form of undeath, Edward has little choice but to trust the spirit.

After receiving a phone call from a young girl claiming her father is possessed, Edward and his Undead Canadian fiancé, Kit, must travel to an acreage in Kingston…Ontario.

The haunting proves far more complicated than Edward could ever have guessed, and he finds himself pitted against an ancient evil determined to engulf everyone on the farm.

Edward’s love and connection to Kit will be tested, and his necromancy stretched to his limits as he has to find—and destroy—a twisted spirit more powerful than anything he’s ever encountered.

• Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28386926-my-zombie-fianc
• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Zombie-Fiancé-Undead-Canadian-Book-ebook/dp/B01ICTP1EA/
• ARe: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-myzombiefianc-2073025-149.html

Bio

T. Strange didn’t want to learn how to read, but literacy prevailed and she hasn’t stopped reading—or writing—since. She’s been published with Torquere Press since 2013, and she writes M/M romance in multiple genres, including paranormal and BDSM. T.’s other interests include cross stitching, gardening, watching terrible horror movies, playing video games, and finding injured pigeons to rescue. Originally from White Rock, BC, she lives on the Canadian prairies, where she shares her home with her wife, cats, guinea pigs and other creatures of all shapes and sizes. She’s very easy to bribe with free food and drinks—especially wine.

She can be found on Facebook and Twitter, or you can email her: tq.strange at gmail dot com

Giveaway

T has brought one ebook copy (mobi, epub or PDF) of My Zombie Fiancé, a print copy of My Zombie Boyfriend, and My Zombie Fiancé swag bag to give away to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment at the end of the post to enter. The contest ends on Sunday, July 17th at 11:59 pm EST.

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