Isabelle Drake

What better way to get excited about finishing my second zombie book than to make a Pinterest board? One of the things I love about my zombies is that they aren't rotting and don't smell bad. They are sexy, strong and smart. And on the prowl for human sex slaves. Here are a couple of my pins.  For more, check out Undead, erotic horror Pinterest board.

If you're curious about erotic horror and like historical works, try Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. This novella, first published in 1872, predates the much lengthier Dracula. At roughly 100 pages, it is the perfect fall afternoon read. Get a free copy from Project Gutenburg . After enjoying the novella, you might hunt down, The Vampire Lovers, a swanky, fun film based on the story .

We'd all love to be someone else, just for one night. That's what Jenn Davidsen does when an invitation to an exclusive party arrives at the hotel where she works. Once there, she decides to fake a British accent. Things get complicated when she runs into Liam, a very sexy cop with a very real British accent. Excerpt: As a cop, Liam Wallace spent his day with other men and women who lived right in the grit of it all. So he knew how to handle himself. But every once in a while, he couldn’t avoid a social situation he knew he ought to—the kind of situation where he was likely to turn into an ass and start saying things he didn’t really mean and was going to regret later. Tonight was one of those nights. He could already feel some restless sarcasm starting to brew inside him. If he didn’t find a way to get out of the party his old roommate Davi had insisted was ‘going to be awesome’, it might turn out to be a rough night. Davi, a wild Brazilian, always loved a good p...

For film adaptation tie-in, Bantam, 1967   Hesperus Classics,  2003 Three covers, one story--DH Lawrence's The Fox. The Bantam version reflects my own interpretation of the story. The plot centers around the Nellie March; its her story. This image captures the sense that the events sweep her in and she finds little power within herself to redirect her life.  The simplicity of the Hesperus edition is intriguing, and I'd be very interested to read the forward written by Doris Lessing , a fairly traditional choice for that task. The Total-E-Bound edition captures the rustic beauty of the story as well as the triangular relationship struggle. I could say, love triangle, however as a gothic, I see the motivating emotion as more of an obsession rather than love. Total-E-Bound Clandestine Classic, 2013 For an analysis on book covers, do check out this fairly adorable clip from German soccer fan, David Delgadillo.

Write the entire first draft.  While polishing up that first draft, get a subscription to Publisher's Marketplace . Make a list of agents/editors who are selling/buying a manuscript similar to yours.  When your manuscript is ready to be ready, start querying. You can get agent/editor submission information from Publisher's Marketplace. Agentquery.com is a good source for agent information. Keep track of the queries. I use 3x5 cards because they are big enough and small enough. Send the submissions. Keep track of those as well. Include what you sent, etc. At the time you send them, you may think you would never forget, but consider the possibility that you will forget. There is a good chance you will want the information later. For example, what if you want to query that same person again in the future? In that case, it would be good to know what you had sent before. Start working on something else. It will make the waiting easier. For a bit more, visit m...