Countdown to My Zombie Wedding Release - Day Five!

This is the story of how Edward’s ex-boyfriend, Bone, came to be. Back when the idea was to make My Zombie Boyfriend as a web comic, my wife and I wanted Edward to have an associate who worked in the morgue. Makes sense—necromancers need bodies. The web comic didn’t make it much past Edward resurrecting Kit—my fault—but we had a character design and even a few sketches for the proto-Bone (and another character, who, with slight modifications as to gender and relationship to Mariel, will be introduced in My Zombie Wedding).

Years passed. My Zombie Boyfriend demanded I write it, in novel form. The original manuscript was just over 50,000 words, and then I started publishing short stories and got distracted. By the time I was ready to look at it again, the publisher’s minimum word count for novels had gone up to 60,000 words. I needed to add...something. Lots of it.

Enter Bone.

I didn’t anticipate that he’d be such a fan favourite, but him getting such overwhelmingly positive feedback definitely helped shape his role in My Zombie Wedding—and it’s a big one. Bone fans, eat your hearts out. (Or you can eat one of Bone’s—he has two).

My wife and I knew from the beginning that Bone wasn’t human, or at least not entirely, but we never really fleshed out (heh) what he actually was.

I didn’t know. Bone wasn’t telling me. Typical. So I left it vague in My Zombie Boyfriend, and waited. Thought about tracking down my demonology book and seeing if anything jumped out at me.

After it had been published, my wife was rereading My Zombie Boyfriend when she pointed out something interesting to me—how Bone addresses Edward. I thought I’d had Bone call Edward ‘Ed’ consistently, mostly just to be a dick, but she noticed several key instances where Bone actually uses Edward’s full name. She thought I’d done it on purpose (which I wish I could say I had, but I can’t. She’s always finding these happy accidents in my writing). It made her think of the fey, and the importance of names—especially true names.

Speaking of true names: Bone tells Edward that his real name is Boniface but he hates being called that and prefers going by Bone, but that’s just a cover. In reality, the opposite is true—Bone (or rather, Bein, which is Bone in Icelandic) is his actual name, Boniface is just what he uses for show when it comes to humans.

So. I knew Bone was some sort of fey creature, but not what. That’s a big place to start. Before I got out my book on demonology or Faeries by Brian Froud (a book that scared me shitless the first time I read it as a hapless nine year old, when one of my mother’s ex-girlfriends gifted it to me, along with Gnomes and Giants. Probably warped my brain forever) I started writing My Zombie Fiancé and that took me in an entirely new direction—Icelandic magic.

Without giving too much away - you'll have to read My Zombie Wedding to find out exactly what Bone is - let's just say that guided me toward finally reaching an accord with Bone about what on Earth he is. We're both very happy, and we hope you will be, too. If you have a theory about what he might be before the book comes out, I'd love to hear it!

Learn more about the Undead Canadian Series here.

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Day Four

My Zombie Fiancé Countdown - Day 5 - Pinterest

Yesterday I introduced the characters of My Zombie Fiancé through music, and today I'm going to tackle a different sense!

Much like the playlists from yesterday, I created Pinterest boards for Edward, Kit, Mariel, and Bone for My Zombie Boyfriend's release. I've added to them in the last year and a half.

I've also created a general My Zombie Fiancé board based on different locations and characters (besides the four I mentioned) in the book.

Most of My Zombie Fiancé takes place in Kingston, Ontario, and I've included images of several important places Kit and Edward visit: the library, the Prince George Hotel, and Fort Henry.

Edward is called to a farm near Kingston, Ontario, owned by Jim Robinson. I've included a model image for him and his daughter Sarah, and models for their farmhouse, and historical photographs of farming in Ontario.

Another important location is Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, and I've included images of people and places from there, as well as historical photographs of Mohawk individuals and ceremonial tools.

Who is Mister Jenkins? Why are there runes on this board? You'll just have to read My Zombie Fiancé to find out!

Edward's Pinterest board - (main character) 19th century curio cabinet, full of oddities and specimens.

Kit's Pinterest board  - (undead Canadian, Edward's Fiancé) expect lots of duckies, cats and other soft animals, along with recipes, motivational sayings, and preppy fashion advice.

Bone's Pinterest board  - (Edward's ex boyfriend, undertaker) creepy, dark and strangely full of goats. Everything is just a little bit...off.

Mariel's Pinterest board - (Edward's mentor, Vodou priestess) colour and light, tea and skulls. Flowers growing from skeletons; death giving way to new life.

Boo (Edward's zombie cat) - pretty much what you'd expect; pictures of black, fluffy cats.

Winston (Kit's blue British Shorthair) - adorable cats and kittens with delightful jowls

You can still enter the preorder giveaway!

All you have to do is preorder My Zombie Fiancé from Torquere Press (15% off) and post a comment here with proof of purchase (ie: order number). 

Day 6 ~~~ Day 4

My Zombie Fiancé Countdown - Day 6 - Music

One of the things I shared for My Zombie Boyfriend's release last year were playlists for each of the main characters.

For My Zombie Fiancé, I've added to and updated those playlists, and I'd like to go into a little more detail about them, and why I chose those particular songs (in general, I'm not going to go through each and every song!) for that character.

I think the music someone listens to says a lot about that person, and the same is true for characters, so let me show you a little window into their heads!

The most difficult playlists for me to create were Mariel and Kit's, for similar reasons. Kit favours popular music, and I'm just not cool enough to keep up with his musical tastes! I've added a few songs to Kit's playlist for My Zombie Fiancé. "You Don't Own Me" by Lesley Gore is on my personal playlist, and while listening to it the other day, it struck me how perfect the lyrics are for Kit, as someone raised from the dead who can literally be controlled by Edward (not that Edward would!)

You don't own me

I'm not just one of your many toys

...

And don't tell me what to do
Don't tell me what to say
...
I'm young and I love to be young
I'm free and I love to be free
To live

Did I just break your heart a little? I know how you feel!

Also new to Kit's playlist is a little more Florence + The Machine, both because her songs work really well for Kit and they're a group he'd listen to. In fact, My Zombie Fiancé sees Kit and a reluctant Edward at a F+TM concert!

Kit's playlist on Spotify

While I don't know Mariel's exact age, she's much older than me—and much older than she looks, so it's difficult for me to know her musical tastes and find songs she would listen to, rather than songs that make me think of her—I removed several songs that fell into the latter category.


New to Mariel's playlist is some more Tracy Chapman and Nina Simone, as well as contemporary Haitian music and a little Rihanna and Beyoncé.

Mariel's playlist on Spotify

Edward and I share a trait when it comes to selecting music: we only like music we've already heard. It sounds strange, but it's true. It's very rare for me to be able to sit down and listen to new music for the express purpose of listening to new music. I have to either hear it while I'm doing something else, like working or out and about. I'll hear a song and think, hey, I like that, and I'll add it to my playlist. But if someone sits me down to play a song they think I'll like...nope. Chances are I won't like it—until I hear it by accident.

Edward's musical taste is similar. You'll notice that most of the songs on his playlist are, uh, a few years out of date. That's because (like Dean from Supernatural) the vast majority of Edward's music is actually his dad's. This was an intentional choice by me, because it suits Edward, and it was inspired by something in my life.

I have a stepsister who's a month and six days little older than me. When we were teenagers, her dad sent her a box of CDs, music from when he was a teenager. We both really ended up liking a lot of the music.

I haven't added much to Edward's playlist, because his musical tastes change glacially slow, but I added a few more of his dad's Edward's favourite songs.

Edward's playlist on Spotify

Ah, Bone. I never would have predicted what a fan favourite he'd become! 

My musical tastes overlap a great deal with my wife's, but her music is definitely...Bonier. Closer to Bone's? Anyway. I let her take over this playlist, and she added so many songs I really had to pick and choose which to include in the official, final playlist. 

I think my favourite new addition to Bone's playlist is "Freak of the Week" by Freak Kitchen. 

Bone's playlist on Spotify

Thanks for joining me for Day 6 of the countdown, and stop by tomorrow for more from My Zombie Fiancé!

Make sure to enter the preorder giveaway—if you preorder My Zombie Fiancé from Torquere Press you get: 

- 15% off

- free short story

- enter to win prize pack

Also, I'd love to see you at the Facebook release party on July 13th!

Day 7 ~~~ Day 5