I could maybe see a "falls in love with a zombie" thing, but it would--in my head--have to be social commentary on boyfriend/girlfriend as accessory/pet rather than actual wholly-realized other person

Emily Michaels was the first to have a zombie boyfriend. After that, all the cool kids, and the kids who wanted to be cool, each made the trek to the mall, where the zombies gathered. It all worked out, though, because as the demand rose, so did the supply. Not all of them came back alive. Girls who wouldn't have gotten the time of day from the varsity team? Just go get gnawed on, and he's all yours. Or, really, you're all his.

insent erika

I thought it was a good piece.

Yesterday's topic, but...

costume

Slide up the thigh-highs, make sure the lines in the back are straight. Fasten the garters, adjust the belt. Smooth and tug the front of the corset, make sure all the hooks are fastened. Step into heeled slippers, slide on the sheer robe.

Check myself in the mirror. Every hair in its place, every stitch straight and proper. Perfect.

I know just what he'll say. I'll walk into the bedroom and smile, cock a hip and splay my fingers over my belly. "Baby, you look so beautiful," he'll breathe.

I don't know how he knows. He's never really seen me.

Ailleann, I love that! Excellent drabble.

A got a little further in 23, but I don't like the last bit of dialogue I did so I'll have to kill it. I need to summarize over a short bit of travel, then I'll be back into the story as it is in the rough draft. I should be able to clip along at a better rate for awhile. Most of the words will be new, but I'll be following the rough draft again, not writing entirely new stuff.

I'm feeling in a low confidence phase again. Probably from a bit of struggling with the start of 23 along with two of the beta exchange people going inactive. Also, I ran over my desired word count for 22 and it's looking like 23 will run long too. I may have to depend on losing words in the next revision more than I was hoping.

If I get rolling in the rest of 23, 24, and 25, I'm sure I'll start feeling better about it.

...Exactly how many teen zombie romance books are there?

And since some teenage girls in fiction seem to be brainless, how much appeal will they have for the zombies?

Hey, may I please have a bit of quick hivemind editing/beta reading on a line for the next GCS column. One of my beta readers questioned something, saying that she thinks this particular line doesn't read as a sentence to her and seems kind of awkward. But it makes sense to me, and none of the other beta readers flagged it. This is the line:

Lightweight panne velvet or satin-finish fabrics scream costume, generally with an undertone of costume that came in a big plastic bag to that screaming.

Jilli, it makes sense to me, but I think perhaps putting the first "costume" in single quotes might ensure clarity.

I would remove "to that screaming" from the end, Jilli. It's unnecessary and, I think, what is causing your beta to find the sentence awkward.